v
•
A DEMIGOD
"Eicropa friov
ILIAD, xx., 210
NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
1 887
Copyright, 1880, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
All rights reserved.
TO
IHn iHtfe
2061823
THE THEME.
Tin: Demigod's name was Hector Yyr.
He was evolved from ordinary humanity by a long-
continued process of artificial selection, aided by au
spicious fortune.
The natural pear is a wretched little rose-hip: art
has developed it into a Duchcsse d'AngOuldme.
The wild horse can scarcely trot a mile in four min
utes: artificial selection has produced a Maud S.
The evolution of the Demigod and certain passages
from his history are herein recounted — thus, I regret
to add, helping to frustrate one of the most cherished
purposes of his life. But what secret purpose so noble,
what precinct of the heart so sacred, as to be safe from
man's profane scrutiny? The general's plans of battle
arc known to his enemy almost as soon as to his own
officers, and the "President reads the secret counsels of
his Cabinet in his evening paper.
That the publication of this narrative is not the act
of perfidy to its hero it may for a while appear, will
be proved in due time, I trust, to everybody's satis
faction.
CONTENTS.
CIIAI-. PAOB
I. A MAD DOCTOU 7
II. AT THE PARTHENON 9
III. Tin: I'KOIKSSOR 24
IV. Tin: TAYCKTUS 36
V. Tin; I!I:K;ANI>S 50
VI. "WrriHHT TIIK GATES 66
VII. Tin: Iv.jnsrnoN 81
VIII. Tin: " ANTIIKOI-ODAIMON " 96
IX. Tin: KKTKKAT Ill
X. Tin: VYKS AT HOME 127
XI. .Jr.Ai.orsY 143
XII. Tin: TKADITI-.N \i. OATII 159
XIII. THE REASON •• YA'iiY-i-oKE" 178
XIV. MA.IOK I'AII. ASTONISHES HIMSEI.K 193
XV. (UMKIIN Kl.ilKNS 203
XVI. IN riin: STAUI.ICIIT 215
XVII. Tin: LAI-.UKATOKY 230
XVIII. Tin: SKKIM.NT IIi-i:< 2:5!)
XIX. Tin: SI;HI>KNT STIN(;S 254
XX. Tin: M.uou's KIDI; 267
XXI. Tin: OKDKAL 273
XXII. A NIGHT ov FEYEH 286
XXIII. ON Tin: \ LUANDA 294
XXIV. HKITOK VYU VISITS PKSI'IIIXO 304
XX\". How THIS ST<>KY CAME TO BE AVuiTTEN . . . 311
XXVI. Ai IJi.'.om 325
XXVII. A COUBT Kixia-TK.N . . 328
A DEMIGOD.
I.
A MAD DOCTOR.
KKXKI.M VKUK, the great-great-great-great-grand
father of our hero, was a wealthy English physician,
who lived in Amsterdam in the very height of the
famous tulipomania. He became infected with the
prevailing madness, which in his case soon changed
to an entirely different form. Instead of attempting
to evolve new varieties of tulips, his thoughts ran on
the improvement of his own race. Failing to divert
the general enthusiasm into this new channel, he
suddenly disappeared, and nothing was ever after
wards seen or heard of him. One of his letters is
still extant, however, in which he declares his inten
tion to make a home for himself in the purest at
mosphere of Greece, to take to wife the handsomest
and wholesomest barbarian that money can buy, and
to enforce among his children the strictest code of
o
mental and physical health.
u Xatur," he writes, "hath not desyned Man to be
a beaste of prey. Ye devouring of flesh is but little
better than Caribalism [cannibalism]. It planteth
foul humours in the blood and lewde lusts in ye
S A DEMIGOD.
heart. My children slial not be of this sorto, I
promise thee. Neither shal they cherisli ambitions,
the which burn vp tlic powers ofyc minde and bodyc
like a consuming fyre. Natur, lyke water, doth seckc
her own level. Genius doth seldome beget genius.
Wherefor they shall be trayned vp to voyde all
maner and degree of notorietie. Nay, my yonge
Impes shal sware to giue their lyves and powers to
harmonious self-nourture, to the ende yl they may
leaiie a goodlie heretage of mental and phisikal
health to their descendents, as ye master of an en-
tayled estate doth sware to transmit it with en-
c-reased seigniories to his heirs.
"Moreouer, they shal sware to impose a lyke oblK
gation vpon their children. So shall futur genera
tions see whether a Man be as good as a Tulype or
no. Did not the lawes of auncient Sparta breed vp
a race of gyantes? What hath ben don, can it not
be don agen ? Aye, and better yette."'
For several years after Dr. Yere's disappearance
his friends tried to reopen communication with him,
but no clew to his hiding-place could be obtained,
and he was at last given up for dead.
Two centuries have buried him deeper than the
nethermost Troy.
AT Till-: PARTHENON.
II.
AT THE 1'Aia II KXON.
IT is one of those clays in Athens when the faint
est cloud would be but a blemish on the blue vault
of the sky. Every shrub on Ilymettus and Penteli-
cus shows sharp and distinct through the crystalline
air. Even Panics and Cithreron seem an easy walk,
while Parnassus, seventy miles away, cuts the horizon
like a knife of pearl.
Among the ruins of the propyhva arc lounging a
little party of American tourists, whom we will pre
sent in due order.
On one of the broad marble steps sits Major War
ren Paul, a robust man of iifty, with closely cropped
hair, which shows only a sprinkling of its original
black, ruddy face flanked by full, granite- colored
whiskers, and the general forceful air of a political
demagogue or of a railroad manager. lie would
o o o
make but an indifferent specimen of either, how
ever, except in the haranguing of a mob of com
munists or strikers ; for though he possesses energy
enough, it usually expends itself so entirely in words
that it is followed by an inglorious reaction, and thus
his acts are apt to be whimsically inconsistent with
his speech. At home he will abuse a political can
didate in terms that even a campaign editor would
10 A DEMIGOD.
hesitate to use, and then go straight to the polls and
vote for him. In his family he will storm like a
madman over their extravagance, and then make up
for his brutality by buying them luxuries they would
never dream of buying for themselves. But this
foible of his had its peculiar advantages. Without
it a far less unruly tongue would have cost him all
his friends ; few men, however, were more popular
than the loud -mouthed Major Paul. It was even
the cause of one of the proudest triumphs of his
life.
He had entered the army with the rank of captain.
For a while his company was a proverb of discipline ;
but the men soon discovered that his verbal car
tridges were always without ball, and then his com
pany was a proverb of anarchy. What was to be
done? Have him put on the general's staff? have
him detailed for special duty? Not for worlds — his
colonel and fellow-officers would not lose so good a
fellowr from the regiment. Happy thought — pro
mote him to the majorship !
He has an ear for round, ringing words, like a mu
sician's for the concord of sweet sounds, and I half
think this is the true explanation of his frequent
philippics. A sonorous polysyllable or phrase will
always catch his attention, often at the expense of
the connected thought, and you will soon hear him
rolling it over his tongue as an expletive, in ludicrous
defiance of its meaning. " Boswell's Life of John
son !" he will say, for instance, as any one else would
say "Good gracious!" Time was when he swore,
AT THE PARTHENON. 11
not for the wickedness of the habit, nor often to give
vent to his less amiable emotions, but simply on ac
count of the rousing resonance which unfortunately
belongs to most of the more common " swear words."
Since his wife's death, however, which had by some
persons been attributed to Divine indignation at his
fearful blasphemies — as if Providence would hesi
tate to visit his transgressions directly upon his own
head ! — he had tried to break himself of the habit,
and now swore big, but for the most part innocent
words, as a man chews gentian or slippery elm in
lieu of tobacco.
A little below the stair-way, on a battered plinth,
in the shadow of the pedestal of Agrippa, that with
its ugly height dwarfs the mutilated beauties of the
marbles around it, half reclines a tall, graceful young
lady, in whom a casual glance scarcely discovers the
daughter of the gallant major. Closer observation
reveals certain turns of the eye and tricks of gesture
so curiously like his that you almost wonder why
they do not make him as enchanting as they make
her. There is, too, an occasional vigor, perhaps I
should say luxuriance, in her speech even more strik
ingly suggesting the relationship between them. She
is in a state of sound health, which, in the good old
times, would have been unpardonably vulgar, but
which, in these bad new times, is more than offset
by rich color of cheek and lip, clear light of happy
eyes, and firm roundness of figure.
A young man is seated cross-legged on the ground
near her, playing a solitaire game of "jack-stones"
12 A DEMIGOD.
with chips of marble, which, for aught lie knew, may
have been fragments of the famous Athene of the
Inner Temple. His face is a curious jumble of in
consistencies. The general cast is that of the con
ventional pirate — low, heavy brows, eyes dark and
deep -set, nose strongly aquiline, lower jaw square
and firm, and, as if the owner aimed at completing
the picture, a long, drooping black mustache. But
the effect is spoiled, or rather redeemed, by an ex
pression of jocular good-nature, in strange contrast
with the forbidding form and color of the features.
You miss the skull and cross-bones from the black
flag, and see only a cap and bells in their stead. For
the rest, he has a long, athletic, though slightly round-
shouldered figure, and slender, shapely hands, dis
played to peculiar advantage in their present idle
employment.
Both he and his fair companion wear garments of
those coarse, neutral-tinted materials so curiously be
coming to people who can wear satin and broadcloth
when they choose, and which conduce so inevitably
to ease of speech and demeanor, just as satin and
broadcloth conduce to stateliness and formality.
There is little enough of stateliness or formality be
tween these two, at all events, for they are engaged
in a more than half serious quarrel ; though, for that
matter, they would be as likely to quarrel in satin
and broadcloth as in tweed and serge. Happily,
their quarrels never last long, and leave no more
clouds than a summer shower.
She has entered upon the propylsea with her shoes
AT T1IE PARTHENON. 13
removed. This must not be understood to mean
that her little feet are actually nude, like those of
old Cecrops and his daughter a few rods distant, but
must be interpreted as simply describing her mental
condition. He, on the other hand, has tramped in
upon that consecrated ground like an irreverent Mos
lem. She has been trying to inspire him with some
thing of her own awe and admiration of the ruined
glories around them, while he has been profaning
them and exasperating her with stale puns and other
witless nonsense.
"Bobert Griffin!" she exclaims, at last, "I really
didn't know you were such a shallow, soulless creat
ure1/'
"Oh, Madeline," he drawls, catching three stones
on the back of his hand and then in his palm, "I'm
afraid you mean to insinuate something deroga
tory." '
" Ugh ! you poor, miserable — "
"Poor! By Jove, that's too much! I've some
feelings, you heartless traducer !"
" I wish I could touch them," she retorted, through
her white teeth. "I wish anybody or anything
could."
'• Well, if you can't, you may be sure nothing else
can. "NY hat do you mean (toss), you little frump, by
calling me poor, when you know I've got (toss) East
ern Pacific enough to buy that old knock-kneed,
broken -backed (toss) church that you admire so
much ?"
" You dare to speak so of the Parthenon ?"
14 A DEMIGOD.
"Pooh! what is thereto dare? where's the dan-
ger?"
" ' Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.' ':
" Plucky fools ! It seems, however, that one angel
dares to tread here as well as one fool — There, by
George, I've missed it again ! Just hand me that
jack-stone behind your heel, will you ?"
" You talk of buying the Parthenon ! You ought
to be ashamed to mention your disgusting bonds in
its presence — you sordid, blasphemous wretch !"
" Come, I say! /can call names as well as yon.
You snaky-haired Medusa ! You blood-thirsty can
nibal! Oh, for breath to tell thec what thou art!
But consider a little, my darling cousin, my sweet-
brier-rose — you won't find those same bonds so dis
gusting in a year or so."
"Yes, I shall — and their proprietor, too, unless he
changes in a great many respects. And, by-the-way,
I don't wish you to speak to me or look at me in
that way, Robert. You know very well you have
no right."
" Haven't I, indeed ?" cried Griffin, throwing away
his jack-stones, and leaping up in mock fun-. "We
haven't been promised to each other almost from our
infancy, have we?"
" Most certainly not," she answered, looking him
squarely in the face. "Whatever papa may have
said, / have made no promises, and I don't think I
ever shall."
"What treason is this? Wasn't it for that very
purpose we took this tour together? Wasn't this
AT THE PARTHENON. 15
close and constant association to knit our souls in-
M-purably together? Mine is already knit; isn't
yours?''
"I o\\\y wish you knew how utterly distasteful
such speeches are to me. You turn everything into
nonsense, even your professed love for me. How
can I believe in your professions, or place any value
upon them ? This close and constant association is
producing exactly the opposite effect to that which
you and papa pretend to hope from it. I am really
serious, Robert."
Her looks and tones confirmed her words.
'• Would you be better pleased with me," Griffin
asked, "if I were like young JSpooner, whose fond
est hopes you so mercilessly nipped in the bud ?"
"I should be immensely better pleased with you,"
she replied, with an angry flush, "if you sometimes
showed that you had one-tenth of Dr. Spooner's heart
and soul."
" Pity he hasn't a head to match," sneered Griffin.
"Well," the little vixen darted back, in her high
key, " no one can accuse you of any such want of
symmetry. But," she added, as an instant but need
less antidote, " we were not talking of Dr. Spooner,
we were discussing a much more interesting subject
— we were discussing you"
"Oh, me. Why will you always be lugging in
such deep and abstruse subjects, when I am trying
to rest my mind by a little light conversation ?"
"I don't know where we could find a lighter sub
ject," she answered, laughing in spite of herself.
16 A DEMIGOD.
"Nonsense. You know I am full of heart and
soul, Madge."
" Take care, sir. You may really wish to use those
sacred words seriously some time, and iind yourself
like the soldier in battle who has broken his weap
ons in reckless play."
She said this with an air of solemn warning that
impressed even him.
" Words are never weapons, Madeline," he replied,
with a sudden accession of gravity and even dignity.
" Weapons are solid facts. No amount of play can
harm facts. You know my heart — what more is
necessary? What do words amount to, anyway?
They're nothing but nitrogen and carbonic acid
gas."
" I know that's your valuation of them, yet I know
of no one who uses them more volubly than you do."
" Well," he returned, with a portentous sigh, " I've
got to breathe" I may as well breathe through my
glottis as through my nose."
"You forget that you are not the only one con
cerned."
"Oh, I lore you? That's terrible. I thought I
only shocked you."
" Words must have some meaning to possess even
that power."
"So I haven't even the power to shock anybody ?"
— threateningly.
"You needn't try" — in alarm.
"You should have seen Aunt Eliza this morning.
I had blundered into some of my imprudent speeches,
AT THE PARTHENON. 17
and she went so far as to say no gentleman would
speak like that. I told her I didn't profess to be a
gentleman, that it was only another name for imbe
cile. She said I was not only no gentleman, but no
Christian. I replied that I made no pretensions to
either title, that Christians were cither hypocrites or
fanatics. I thought the poor old virgin would go
mad. ' W/tct are youf she shrieked. 'A laughing
philosopher,' said I; 'a mere animal with senses to
enjoy, and with just prudence enough to avoid crime
and disaster.' ':
Madeline listened to his story without a smile.
"I am more than half convinced," she said, "that
you gave her your true genus and species."
'"Course I did — Homo Pcrditus"
"Then, of course, you cannot reasonably expect
me to have anything more to say or do with j'ouf"
"I suppose not" — with a sigh of resignation.
"Henceforth we must be as if we had never met."
"Good-by."
"(iood-by. Try to think of me as I was in the
innocent days of my childhood."
"I shall try not to think of you at all."
She rose and walked leisurely towards the stair
way of the propylfea. The major had by this time
left his seat on the steps, and had disappeared on the
plateau of the akropolis. Griffin sprang up and over
took Madeline.
" Where are you going?" he asked.
" I'm going to find papa."
" May^I go, too T
18 A DEMIGOD.
"If you'll stop your abominable, tiresome non
sense."
"Now, isn't that rather hard on a poor fellow who
has only been doing his best to entertain you?"
" Can't you see, you poor, dear boy, that you have
been going about it in exactly the wrong way?
Can't you get rid of the absurd idea that what you
call fun is entitled to precedence over everything
else, and at all times? Can't you realize that there
are some things too sacred to be trifled with ? In
stead of increasing by your sympathy the pleasure
we might both enjoy here, you only— I confess I
cannot understand your insensibility to this wonder
ful scene, with all its associations. How can you look
upon those ruins, and desecrate them with evcry-day
chatter, especially every-day puns? I should think
their very names would make some impression upon
you."
She had stopped walking during this appeal, and
now seated herself on one of the steps. Griffin was
absently tracing the figures in the sculptured rubbish
which lay around them with the end of his walking-
stick.
"Hang it, Madeline!" he said, bringing the stick
down with a whack upon one of the marble blocks,
"you must remember I'm not made of such refined
clay as you are. I'm only an every-day sort of fel
low, and can talk only every-day talk. If I -were
promoted to a regular member's seat on High Olym
pus, I should probably forfeit it the very first day by
some vile pun. I suppose it only shows the coarse-
AT THE PARTHENON. 19
of my nature, but, to tell you the honest truth,
I never believed that people who talk classical rhap
sodies really fed as they talk. They only want to
show how exquisitely aesthetic they are. I — I —
don't mean you, of course."
" I don't profess to be made of finer clay than you
are,1' returned Madeline, well pleased that he was at
last reduced to seriousness, " but as to saying what I
don't feel — well, if you choose to think me such a
hypocrite — "
"Didn't I jnst say I didn't mean you?"
" I really do feel a great deal more than I can ex
press. I don't see how any one can help it — here. I
never was in any other place that affected me as this
does. Kowhere else have I ever felt such a glow of
tender emotions. Don't interrupt me, please. Let
me talk to you, for once, as I would to any one else.
The Parthenon, especially, seems to me like a vast,
noble intelligence clothed in a form of perfect beau
ty, lamenting its own downfall. I have no words to
express the exquisite sorrow that fills me — the long
ing to see it restored in all its symmetry and gran
deur — and to think that only two centuries ago it
was almost uninjured ! I feel like speaking with
bated breath in that sublime presence. It seems as
if the great shade of Phidias hovered in the blue air
over it."
"Like the Spectre of the Brocken," interposed
Robert, his face lighting up with self-appreciation,
" big only because it is so far off. Come, now, I call
that a mighty good comparison. I don't suppose
20 A DEMIGOD.
Phidias was much ahead of some of the great artists
of to-day, do you ?"
"Well," returned Madeline, impatiently, "if that
is your real judgment, I abandon you as an incorri
gible."
Griffin's brow contracted a little. "I suppose I
am a lamentable specimen of ignorance and vulgari
ty. I don't understand how you can condescend to
associate with such a peasant."
"Oh, fudge! I know very well you don't really
feel as you talk, as you say about classical rhapso-
dists. You only talk as you do for the sake of exas
perating me."
Griffin reflectively poked the stones with his stick
a few moments, and then said,
" Perhaps you are right. I don't pretend to under
stand myself very well. As I said a little while ago,
the subject is altogether too profound for me. Uncle
Warren talks just as I do, only a great deal more so."
" Oh, papa ! I don't mind his sneers any more than
I do his scolding. Everybody knows the more he
abuses a thing the more he really respects it. There's
nothing he berates more than the classics and the
classic countries, yet you know he wanted you to go
to Harvard, and here we've been in Greece longer
than in any other country since we left Boston. He
spent a long time yesterday at the Theseum, and I
have no doubt we shall presently find him worship
ping the Parthenon. Let's go up and see."
So saying, she sprung up again, and led the way
through terraced colonnades, an avenue of beautiful
AT THE PARTHENON. 21
(Isolation, past great monoliths prone and stained
Avith the mellow gold of centuries, until they stood
within the ramparts of the akropolis. Close at hand
rose the rocky tower of Lycabettus. A little farther
on, the silver of vast olive-groves gleamed in the sun
light, threaded by the white line of the Piraeus rail
way. Away in the horizon waved the mountains of
"Morea, and the blue ^Kgean lay around its islands.
AVithin the parapet lay scattered everywhere shat
tered columns, friezes, drums, fragments of the en
tablature, and sculptured marble in every stage of
mutilation. From the midst of all this the Tem
ple of the Virgin soared into the vivid blue, like the
palace of a dream.
u What did I tell you?" exclaimed Madeline, with
a laugh, waving her hand towards a portly figure
with its back towards them, motionless as the Colos
sus of llhodes, and in a similar attitude. "Now will
you pretend you don't admire classical ruins f she
cried, startling her father from his reverie.
" Great Thomas Jefferson, how you scared me ! I
thought you were one of those old she-gods come to
™ •/ O
life again !"
" Not a very strange mistake," said Robert Grif-
h'n. u I've often thought so myself."
" Thank you both," laughed Madeline, " particu
larly for the 'old.' Papa, dear, I beseech you not to
say 'she-gods' again; it's altogether too Saxon an
expression for this place, which you know you rev
erence in your heart. Didn't we just catch }*ou wor
shipping at the shrine of Athene?"
22 A DEMIGOD.
" Il.'m'pli ! you may call it worshipping if yon like.
It's the way a good many worship at our modern
shrines. I was estimating the outrageous waste of
material and skilled labor here. That building alone
must have cost half a million dollars, and what, in
the name of the Young Men's Christian Association,
was it ever good for but to look at? But that's all
those old Greeks lived for. They were a set of pre
posterous, effeminate coxcombs. They ate pickles
and chalk to tone down their muscles into smoother
outlines. They thought it was vulgar to have the
muscles of men, and so only the statues of barbarians
and satyrs show anything like real manhood. Talk
about their being a noble type of humanity! Bax
ter's ' Saints' Rest !' your true Greek athlete was a
pretty, rose -water -suck ing monstrosity. l Athlete T
Head of Ileliogabalus ! I'd bet on Madge in a fair
fight with one of 'em !"
Her father's coarseness afflicted poor Madeline even
more than her cousin's frivolity. As far as she was
concerned, their ravages were worse than those the
classic precincts around her had already suffered \ for
while Time and Turk had mutilated and defaced
only the marbles, her companions seemed bent on an
nihilating the very soul of poetry and romance that
other iconoclasts — Lord Elgin and all— had left in-
o
tact.
" I don't know why you brought me here," she
said, turning away with a grief and anger she rarely
felt towards her father. She walked slowly towards
the eastern parapet, complaining to herself : " Why
AT THE PARTHENON". 23
couldn't they lot me enjoy it as T wanted to? Men
have no more feeling or sense than a stone. I never
will go anywhere with either of them again !v But
soon her thoughts were diverted by the glories of the
eastern landscape, which the sun was painting in a
thousand brilliant lines. It was not long before she
was descanting, with all her wonted enthusiasm, to
the two penitent delinquents upon the mysterious,
ragged relics of the Pelasgic "Walls, the stately ruin
of the Temple of Olympian Zens, the decrepit old
llissus tottering along at the foot of llymettus, and
the proud Lycabettus, with skirts of green velvet
and long, soft train of shadow.
In an hour or two the party descended. Pacing
the inspection of a bright-eyed soldier, whose duty it
was to see that no relic was carried away, they wound
through the grove of huge aloes beneath the .south
ern wall of the akropolis, thus avoiding the; miserable
lints, built of mud, stones, and many a sculptured
fragment once precious, that skirt the western base.
They found the narrow, horribly -paved streets
thronged; for, as usual, all Athens was out-of-doors.
AVhatever they see, Athenians must lie seen — rich or
poor, young or old. beautiful or ugly, in embroidered
silk or dirty linen, they must be seen. So they
were all there — gay /w/V/w/-.* in their crimson jack-
ami snow-white/ 7/.v; black-eyed ladies in
jaunty gold-tasselled fez ; beggars in their rags, and
Franks and (i reeks, dressed like Franks in sober black
and gray.
The picturesque (Jreek costume is fast giving place
24 A DEMIGOD.
to the unromantic coat and trousers of Western Eu
rope ; but there are certain classes who will, for
many years to come, proudly wear the scarlet jacket
and white fustanelli, as we still find, here and there
in our own country, the blue swallow-tail and bright
buttons of a past generation.
As our friends drove past long rows of one-storied,
tumble-down shops and dwellings, towards their great
hotel in the Square of the Constitution, Major Paul
told, with much satisfaction and many congratula
tions, of a new guide and interpreter whose services
he had secured, Professor Markos Tsiiras — a real pro
fessor, mind you — late of L'Arvarion, formerly of
the island of Corfu, " where Greek and English are
spoken in equal purity/'
III.
THE PROFESSOR.
PROFESSOR TSARAS, or Daskalomarkotsaras, as lie
was called for short in his own language, was a thin,
nervous little man, with a suggestion of the typical
Greek beauty in his straight nose, dark eyes, and olive
cheeks. lie was impulsive, inquisitive, cunning,
polite, keen at a bargain, and intensely patriotic — at
least in words. Living in a country totally unable
to support its large proportion of professional citizens
in a state befitting their occupations, he was as poor
in purse as he was rich in education. There were no
THE PROFESSOR. o->
subjects upon which his nimble tongue ran more nn-
iiiii'lv than his own attainments and the injustice
of Fortune, who lavished her favors upon the igno
rant and the stupid, and withheld them from those
who, like himself, had the brains to appreciate them.
Like most of his countrymen, he was quite ready to
turn an honest <//'<>c/t//i« in almost any way that offered,
from translating a hook to running of errands; so,
when Major Paul applied to him for a trustworthy
dragoman, he immediately proposed himself, with
the most flattering recommendations.
When Greek meets Yankee in the way of trade,
then comes the tug of war. It was a good-natured
warfare in this case, however, and at last the terms
were satisfactorily arranged. Tsaras agreed to act as
interpreter and guide, and to provide food, lodging,
and transportation for the party at ten dollars j» /•
<l'«iii, not including lak*/tr<H/t to servants, dri\
etc. — by no means an unimportant item.
"Monsieur Paul," he said, shaking his head with
most impressive meaning, "I congratulate you for
the excellent contract you have maiike. I shall saiife
you more as my remuneraiition each days. You are
ver' acute, Moi^u-ur Paul, but you know not how
terrible you shall be cheat if you shall try to maiike
the contract with Greek oticodespfaai and ayo(j'idt<ii'/:
yotfself."
The party made several short excursions to Eleu-
sis, Marathon, Sunium, the summits of Ilymettus
* Landlords and muleteers.
2G A DEMIGOD.
and Pentelicus — and then tlic major signified liis
desire to visit Sjmrtu, and that most magnificent of
all the Greek ranges, the Taygetus.
"I want to see the people who live among those
mountains," lie said. " I have heard that they are
the direct descendants of the ancient Spartans, and
that they have inherited the strength and hardihood
of their ancestors. If that is true, they must be a
most remarkable people, sir, and I want to make their
acquaintance."
They were seated in a cafe in the Square of the
Constitution, smoking nargiles and sipping Cretan
wine. A Bavarian band, just outside, was playing
Greek and German airs, to the great annoyance of
some palikars, who, with true Greek inquisitiveness,
were vainly trying to divine what the distinguished-
looking Frank was saying. AVhat to them were the
tuneful strains of the Hymn of the Revolution —
" Atvrt Traict£ rwv 'K
'H 7rarpi£ aa irpofficaXil "
—but a cover to some possible treason on the part of
their learned countryman or of the foreigner? They
could hear the "Asurs " at any other time.
" Yeas," replied Tsaras, highly pleased. " I can
tell to you wond'ful stoaries of the Mainotes. They
perrformed prodigee of valor in the Revolution. You
shall faind glorious examples of the Greek raa'ce
among them, and you shall be convince that we are
not the degeneraate pipple the worrld thing we are.
Aah yeas, we have gret many heroes in Greece to-
THE PROFESSOR. 27
dnv, gret many unknown Lconidas. Mbotzaris was
• > «/
not the las' — no, Monsieur Paul — \vc have grot many
more hero as brail ve laike Mbotzaris. Have not you
heaiTcl the naiime VyrT
•• Vere— -Verel Oh yes. It's an English name."
"Engleesh! O d'nl^ol.^ ! — no; Greek. It is the
naiime of a wond'ful familee among the Mainotes.
P'raps we inns' not belief all those stoaries which
comes to us of the familee Yyr, becose some of those
stoaries be laike — aah — miracle. For instanz : one
young man is call the infirm Ilerakles. His rilly
naiime is Hector Vyr, and it shall not be udithYultec
to — aah — arraiinge Twelf Laiibors of his exploit which
shall resemble those lailbors of the old Ilerakles. One
taime, it says, he purrsned a band of klephts ten
kilometres, and he knock them down this all distan/
with the bodee of a klepht which he have kill with
his onlee hands!"
"Pooh! 1 can beat that." said the major, con
temptuously. Haven't you ever heard of the Amer
ican Ilerakles, I);r:y Crockett, and how he used to
kill Indians with llashes of lightning from his eyes '."
>% Aah, you maiike the joke with me, Monsieur
Paul; but 1 tell to you the only truth, laike as it is
tell to me. No klepht have the braiivery to come
near to his iilds or to his orrchards. Hector Yyr
shall never lose sheeps, and he pays not — aah — what
you call — "
-I '.lack-mail ?"
" Yeas. Hector Yyr never pays black-mails !"
"Why, then, in the name of Uunyan's ' Pilgrim's
28 A DEMIGOD.
Progress,' " asked Major Paul, " doesn't lie come forth
and drive the cussed venomous vermin from your
country altogether ?"
"Aah, Monsieur Paul, that is the mos' sti-ai'ingr.-'
thing. Yeas. He shall not be induce' to leave his
home. With all his power and his braiivery, he have
not the ainbection. The Hellenic Gov'munt have
n make to him the offer to command in the arrinec,
but he shall not accept not any offices in the urrmee,
not in the Boulc"
"But I should think patriotism would call him
out, if ambition didn't."
" Aah," replied Tstiras, shaking his head, " not any
man find'stands Hector Yyr. He is wond'ful mod
est, laike he is wond'ful strong. It is difficultee to
even see him ; for, although he have not the fear to
faiice a arrmee of cnemee, he shall run from a visitor
laike as he shall run from the didbolou /"
" Then we shall stand rather a slim chance of see
ing this demigod of yours," suggested the major.
" ' Slim ?' Aah, you min little chance. Yeas. If
we shall see him we shall be fortunaiite more as any
man at all."
" Except the klephts."
" Yeas, except the klephts. They shall be more
fortunaiite if they do not see him."
" He has a very convenient habit for a d innjod in
these days," remarked the major, in a somewhat sar
castic tone. " We have sharper eyes and more criti
cal tests than they had in the time of Homer."
" You do not belive ? Well, we shall see. You
THE PROFESSOR. 09
shall leave my conntroe with different thoughts as
when you have came here. Monsieur Paul."
•• Very probable, professor. By-the-way, speaking
of klephts, I suppose you mean briyanilxC'
•• Yeas. T-iit all the klephts are not necessaiiry
brigands. The naame klepht min rillce n\<> nnf,i nicer,
which mos' often are wandering shepherds, !>I<icho-
poimenes. They live in the stronghold of the mount
ains unt'l they have exhaust the grass for their
lierds, and too friquent the booty for thcyself. Then
they go 'way very <piee<-k to other stronghold. The
principal rizzon that it is difficultee to exterrminaatc
them is becose they are BO acquaint with the countreo
that they easily escaape from those purrsuit. Whaile
their enemee climb toilfully upon one mountain, they
iiv ea>v away laikc tlie birds to other. They shall
go liftee, .-ixtee kilometres in one naight, over mount
ains which other men shall faind impassable. The
Hellenic Gov'mnnt is — aah — asperse mos' unjustlcc
for rizzon of the klephts. The nailtions inns' have
the sympathee f«»r us, but they have not the sympa-
thec. They say the mos' terrible -lander agains' us.
Thev say, ' CJreece is the (,'aave of Adullam, and the
(i reeks are a naiitioii of assassin.' Listen. Monsieur
Paul!"
lie took from his pocket a scrap of newspaper,
and read, "'Greece is geograapbioallee a part of
Turkey; moraallee a continuaiition of Hades; social-
lee an offshoot of Soho Square. The land is in the
hands of brigands; the only law observed is the law
of pillage ; the only king recognaized is King Death !'
30 A DEMIGOD.
"Those, Monsieur Paul, is the senti'iiu'-nt of a
countryman of the Kngleesh hero, Loml P.<vn>n. who
was our brailve friend — one gret philhellene. What
you thing of me if I shall say New York is a con-
tinuaiition of Hades, becose multitude of thiefs haide
in her had strita, which laugh and wag their head at
the gov'mimt ? We inns' not be censure beeose
Engleesh and American travellers are robbed in our
mountains, no more as you inns' be censure becose
Greek travellers are robbed in your bad strits, Mon
sieur Paul/'
" That is hardly a fair comparison, professor," re
plied Major Paul, with a frown. " We have no or
ganized bands of cutthroats roaming over the length
and breadth of our land. If we had, by the Infernal
Blacksmith, we should declare war, and sweep them
into the Atlantic Ocean !"
" Declare war !" almost shrieked Tsaras. "Do not
we, too, also declare war? It is war without be
gin and without end. But Greece is not all over-
weave with railway laike your countrce. We have
all only mountain and valley. Our only roads are —
ah — ravines in the mountains, and the channel of
rivers which have dry up. Every plaiices have caiives
and thickets which cannot be — ah — penetraiite, where
the klephts hide theyself in one little moment.
Some taime we have draive them away farr to the
north ; but the Turk skijlloi (dogs) they recive them
with open arms, and when we have come to our
homes, the klephts they come -too, also.
" Also we are not strong laike your countree,
T11K I'ROFKSSOR. 31
M •'.-:> nr Paul. AVe ha\ rec«>\vrr ourself of
the Turkish oppiv-si.>n. We are braiive and patriot,
but we are link* number. The naiition.s inu.s' no;
slander us. they mil*' hellup us. .Monsieur Paul, th> <j '
' Iull»}>
Ts&raa -; -kc with much show of feeling. His
•;res were numerous, and in the most impassioned
lie amse from his seat and walked back and
forth by liis side1 of the table.
"But I have heard," said the major, after a rellect-
ive silence on both sides, "that you do not always
punish your robbers, even when you catch them."
"Punish our robbers? aah, we are too sof in our
heart. The (Jreek pipple be heroes, and they love
heroes. The klephts are not laike the En^leesh
thiefs — they be laike hero. They were force' to
liaid«- they self in the mountains from the Turkish
tl'nllnlu'i. They were saiifo tlierc, .Monsieur Paul, and
they fly away down upon their oppressors laike the
B fly down upon the jackal. Kadi klepht were
laike the Swit/. hero, Willuni Tell. Thcv wei'e the
mos* braiive in all the arnnee of the revolution ; and
when the war finish, they faind their homes all ^oiie,
they faind their bee/ness all irone. What inns' they
do — what mus' they </<>. Monsieur Paul ( They inns'
'hey mils' have hou>e, they inns' have garment.
They have learrn to love braiivery in the mountains,
and — they st:iy in the mountains. They were her
which fai^ht for liberrty — they are klephts which
fai^ht for meat. Is ir not the ju-:'
Major Paul felt but little admiration for the flarn-
3
83 A DEMIGOD.
ing eye, the erect figure, the ringing tones, and the
impassioned gestures of the speaker. His prevail
ing feeling was one of disgust and irritation at the
abominable cause the little professor was pleading.
Controlling himself, lie said as quietly as possible,
"So your people admire the rubbers, and are even
said to feed and shelter them, and help them to es
cape from their pursuers, when they have any."
" Aah, Monsieur Paul, are not we a unhappee pip-
pie ? The otkodeaptie* knows if he tell the gov'munt,
or if he refuse meat and hellup, his sheeps shall be
robbed away, and his house shall be burn with faire.
It is better he pay — ah — black -mails than he be
ruin."
" What do you say to the charges against your
government of being in collusion with the rascals?"
"Pardon. I do not und'stand."
" Why, your government, or at least prominent
members of it, are accused of secretly helping the
brigands and sharing in their plunder. What do you
say to that, professor?"
Tsaras's cheek flushed darkly.
" Monsieur Paul, all those is black lies of the En<r-
7 o
leesh goddams! The Hellenic gov'munt does all
what he is able. And he has done gooddill, Monsieur
Paul. He has swip away the piraiite from the tsea,
and many taime he has draive the klephts to the top
of the mountains. lie gives protections all which
lie is able ; lie sends soldiers with the traveller,, and
he demands no recompense for the protections. We
are not rich laike to you, Monsieur Paul, but wo
TIIK I'KoFKSdOK. :{:j
liavc hellupcd to pay the ransom of foreign capti
although it is not our obligaiiti.m. Wlu-ii Lorrd Mun-
ter and liis friends were captive. King Georgia*
oll'ered his royal bodee for the ho>ta;ige. AY hat can
we do more ( Hut it is not enough. The naiitions
•he eaame black lies as if his Majestee and all the
Greeks are klephts. Oh, Monsieur Paul, shall you
not have the compassion with us ? Is it not one gret
infaniee C
Major Paul had no disposition to tempt further
the little Hellenist's patriotic ardor, particularly as
the inquisitive palikars had moved their chairs near
er, and had evidently gathered some inkling of the
nature of the discu.-sioii, although probably not one
of them understood a word of Knglish. He readily
nted to the injustice done to the Greek nation,
and in characteristic language e.xpre.-sed his sym
pathy.
'•nut," he added, his thoughts taking a more prac
tical turn. "I must say, professor, this talk has not
stimulated my appetite for an excursion to the Tay-
getus. To tell the truth, I feel a little — How do
I know that I sha'ift be gobbled up, as Muncaster
was r
'• ( )h, my friend, have not fear. You shall be saiife
there laike as you are saiife in Athens. The klephts
never come into the J'eloponnc.-e. They are all in the
North. The Mainotes are a rude pipple, but they
are honest and also they are hospitaiiMe. No tra
ler takes the esetirt when he goes among them. JJut
the Hellenic gov'munt shall give to you the escort, if
34 A DEMIGOD.
you shall ask him, as I have said to yon." Then,
drawing his little figure up to its full height, he con
cluded with the reassuring reminder : " / shall be
your guide, Monsieur Paul !"
When the subject of the excursion came up in the
family circle, no one was more enthusiastic in its fa
vor than Madeline. The country of the old Spartans !
The mountains where they left their sickly babies to
perish ! The rocky, pathless wilderness ! The Morea
and the .^Egcan spread out before them like a pano
rama! The mules and the pack-saddles, and a thou
sand romantic adventures! The brigands, too, the
brigands ! " Oh, papa, when shall we start Cy
" When shall we start !" cried her father, when he
could recover his breath ; " who said anything about
your going?"
" But I am going, am I not ?"
" Great Blue Dragon ! I should as soon think of
your going for a soldier ! No, no, my pet ; you and
your aunt Eliza will study art and architecture in
Athens, while Robert and I take this little trip by
ourselves."
" Professor Tsaras assures us it is perfectly safe,"
timidly ventured Aunt Eliza.
" What ! you want to go, too ?"
" I should like to very much, if it wrould be agree
able."
" You, a sensible American woman of forty !"
" I beg your pardon — thirty-nine."
"A\rell, that's too old for such insane nonsense.
One would suppose twenty-one ought to be," with
THE PROFESSOR. 33
an indignant glance at his daughter. "* Males and
pack-saddles!' 1 vh<»<l<l— You two have persuaded
me to do a great many silly things, but you won't
make a fool of me this time. Do you think I'm such
a stark, staring idiot as to take you on a journey you
couldn't endure for a day ( Il'm'pli! I should be as
bad as your Spartans with their babies!"
"May we go, papa?" Madeline asked, with her
ino-r seductive- smile. She knew the opposition
would soon be exhausted at this rate.
" Xo /*' thundered the major; " of course you
won't go. '.Mules and pack -saddles!' You'd look
well on a park -saddle, //••///. would! and your aunt
Eliza — (irandmother of John the T.apti^t! she'd
tumble off more than forty tinus a minute!"
"Oh no. Warren, I think not. I'm considered a
very respectable horsewoman."
•• 1 say you tci»i!<l ! What do you know about it?
Do you think the (ireek mountains are like .Icpson's
riding -school? You talk about brigands!" — turn
ing fiercely bark to his daughter— k' I suppose you
think they're the fascinating gentlemen that sing in
the opera— «lonched hats with plumes, silk, and gold
lace, and slashed BleeVtt, OllendoriT's (ireek ( i ram-
mar ! You'd like an introduction, wouldn't you?
You'd find their etiquette a little different from New-
bury Street. You wouldn't fall in love with any of
'em, I'll swear — though they might fall in love with
you -to your everlasting sorro\v T
" Ladies haw gone plenty of times, and got back
safely,'' urged Aunt Kli/a.
30 A DEMIGOD.
This brought on another peal. It thundered and
lightened and hailed, until the meteorological maga
zine gave out, when the usual and expected result
followed :
The ladies went.
IV.
THE TAYGETU8.
THE American Minister obtained from the Hellenic
Government a circular letter addressed to the various
demarchs through whose domains the party was to
pass, bespeaking their kindly offices. The Govern
ment also sent despatches to the same officials, advis
ing them of the honor in store for them. If there
were any brigands on or near the projected route,
therefore, their game was pointed out to them in
ample season.
During the weeks which Major Paul had spent in
Athene, he had become friendly with the American
Minister, who very gladly showed his friendship by
offering his yacht to transport the party from the
Piraeus to Gytheion, whence they were to proceed
on horseback to Sparta.
Notwithstanding repeated assurances that there
was not the slightest occasion for a military escort
anywhere south of the Isthmus, Major Paul had per
sistently asked for one. So, on reaching Sparta he
found a lieutenant and six gens-d"1 armes awaiting him.
THE TAYGETTS. 37
Apart from its associations, the renowned city of
Lvcurgus presented hut few attraction..-. Very little
of the old city remains. The Americans inspected
the ruins of a tomb, alleged — probably falsely — to be
that of Leonidas, and an amphitheatre where the
Spartans were assembled when the news came of the
disastrous defeat at Sellasia.
"They recived the intelligence," said Tsaras,
'' with indifference, although it maiide them subject
to the Macedonians. They sit still uiit'l the trajcdee
was iinish."
Beside these two objects and a temple or two, they
saw little except a collection of poor dwellings, whose
inhabitants resembled their remote predecessors only
in the extreme simplicity of their fare. It is true
the modern city has, within the last few years, made
a considerable advance in prosperity and civilixation;
still the prophecy of Thncydides, that from the re
mains of the two cities posterity would have reason
to nnder-estimate Sparta as much as to over-estimate
Athens, ha.; been amply fuliilled.
I Jut when our travellers looked beyond the city
they saw enough to admire. Along the west were
ranged the live grand, snow-capped peaks of thu
Pentedactylon. In the east towered Mts. Parnon
and Tarax. Between these the fertile valley of the
Eurotas stretched up and down as far as the eye could
see. The mountains form huge natural bulwarks,
and show why no artiiicial defences have ever been
constructed. The strength of the Spartan hege
mony, which lived on and on while everywhere else
38 A DEMIGOD.
aristocracy was tottering to the ground, was due not
more to the laws of Lycurgus than to the topography
of Laconia. Sparta, with her river, her garden-like
environs, and her gigantic natural walls of defence,
formed a stronghold impregnable alike by assault or
siege. Her perioeci starved among the mountains,
while, within her own little area, it was easy to keep
her foot upon the necks of the helots.
From Sparta Major Paul and his party took up
their line of march for the Taygetus. The path led
through magnificent groves of olives, mulberry and
fig trees, and plane-trees planted in the beginning of
the Turkish rule. They soon reached the village of
St. John, whose houses were almost hidden in foli
age — a very romantic little town. Continuing farther
among the mountains, they came to the great rock of
Mistra, at the very base of the Taygetus, from which
it is separated by deep gorges. Upon this rock is
built a city whose paved streets rise, one above an
other, in the most picturesque irregularity — a dense
ly populated city in the heart of the wildest solitude!
Here they spent the night so comfortably that Made
line was quite disappointed.
Early the next morning they found, a little beyond
Mistra, several curious old churches, one of which,
dedicated to St. Nicholas, was so hidden among rocks,
trees, and shrubbery that it was with the greatest
difficulty that they penetrated into the interior.
"Well," said Griffin, surveying the scene with un
disguised disgust, "we've made a gallant fight, my
brave comrades, and here we are in the citadel. Now
Till-: TAVGEI 39
let us count the spoils. They certainly are
enough to satisfy even Madge. Item, one ruine<l
stain-use. You ought to admire tliat, coz, for it is in
worse repair than the Parthenon itself. Item, three
broken candlesticks. Item, a decayed painting of an
angel — or is it a tish C
"That's a fair example of your artistic discrimina
tion," retorted Madeline. "Those areas good wings
as I ever saw. Did yon take them for h'ns '."
"I didn't know but it might be a ilying-iish, you
know. Item, a mouldy portrait of an old duffer with
one eye, a fragment of a nose, and no chin."
" Pardon,'' broke in Ts;iras : •• that is not a ' duiYer,'
Monsieur (triflm; he is a emperor, lie is the Em
peror Alexius Commenus. who builted the church."
"Robert is nothing, if not irreverent,'' said Made
line.
" Now for a lecture."
•• Don't Hatter yourself. I shall \vait until 1 have
a more appreciative audience."
Then she lectured him roundly.
•• Monsieur Paul," said Tsaras, after they had fin
ished their inspection of the Church of St. Nicholas,
k' what way shall you go? The way to the north is
four day journey ; the other, across the mountains, is
onlee three day journey, but he is much more difH-
cultee."
" I >o you know both routes '." '
" Aah, yeas. I know all (J recce."
" Well, then, we'll go the shortest way.''
40 A DEMIGOD.
The rest of the party voted unanimously in favor
of the route across the mountains. They had already
become somewhat accustomed to the difficulties of
mountain travel, and felt equal to any effort or ad
venture.
As they entered upon the steep, scrambling, rocky
path, the cavalcade proceeded in the following order :
Lieutenant and three gcns-d* armes.
Major Paul and Tsdras.
The two women.
Cook and assistant cook.
Mules with baggage, including beds and a good
supply of comestibles, it being wisely resolved not to
trust to the boasted hospitality of the JVIainotes.
Three gcm-d? armcs.
Griffin was not confined to any one position. He
constituted himself a sort of chief-marshal, and was,
by turns, in front and rear, jabbering broken Greek
with the escort, calling out diatribes from the major,
quarrelling with Madeline, and joking with Tstiras,
whose superficial dignity had long since given way to
the jaunty young fellow's good-natured impudence.
Everybody was well armed. Even the women car
ried little revolvers in their belts, which furnished
Griffin with the theme for endless witticisms.
For an hour they passed through the wildest glories
of nature, rendered doubly magnificent by the pur
ple and gold of morning. At length a wide valley
suddenly spread out before them, checkered with
olive, mulberry, and orange groves, patches of pop
lars, willows, and open fields, which ploughs were at
TI1K TAYGETUS. 41
that moment gradually turning from green to dark
red. Thickly wooded hills stood around the valley,
their summits swimming like islands in lakes of rosy
mist. Ilelow these were grassy slopes tinted with
anemones of every shade, among which groups of
peasant children were playing in the sunsliinc. Here
and there on the hills could he seen the tall white
fortresses of the Mainotes, among whom a sort of
feudal system is still in force, while in the distance
gaped the huge black jaws of the Taygetus gorge.
"Xiiw. then, Madeline/' said Major Paul, after
they had gazed a while in silence, "give us the
jesthetic points of this view."
•• You nid no better guide as Miss Paul," inter
posed Tsuras. partly in piipie. partly because he would
low no opportunity to compliment the beautiful and
sprightly young American.
" Interpreter, you mean, ( 'harles," said Griffin, us
ing one of the numerous English names which he
had bestowed on the little Greek. " As a guide to
our feet and a lamp to our path. Miss Paul would be
a disastrous failure. Your labor is fairly divided.
You guide our mules ; she guides us. You interpret
the language of man ; she the language of nature.
You are Greek ; she is Saxon. You are of the earth,
earthy; she is of the Leavings, heavingly. Don't be
jealous."
" ' Jealous,' Monsieur Griffin — it is not jealous : it is
admira&tion. Miss Paul is more your guide as I am."
"Dear me!" cried Madeline,"! beg Monsieur
Tsaras's pardon for trespassing on his province. I
!.' A DEMIGOD.
shall do So no more, I assure you, monsieur. In
i'aet, I couldn't if I would. I am literally talked
out."
"While Charles is as fresh as ever," added Grill'm.
"At the start I would have laid two to one on you.
You can use the biggest words, but he can wind you,
Madge. Let me try my hand. Look at that view
now. Isn't it glorious? "With M'hat calcareous
majesty those cerulean —
" Oh, for the sake of—"
"Look at that ploughman. How his red breeches
creep along the furrowed field, like a gigantic lady-
bug along a blade of grass !"
"Oh, come, come!" put in the major. "Have
done with your nonsense. That's too fine a view —
I don't blame Madge for being disgusted with you.
Go ahead, Madge, tell us about it."
" Yeas," added Tsaras, " we are attention to Miss
Paul's views of the view."
" Impressions, you mean, Charlie," corrected Grif
fin. " 'Views of the view' is not good enough for a
pun, and it is bad rhetoric."
" I wish that you shall spik Greek, Monsieur Grif
fin," retorted the nettled Tsaras; "then I shall be
so kaind to correct your little mistaiike too, also."
" Thank you, professor ; English is good enough
for me."
" Order !" shouted the major. " Madeline has the
floor."
" Calling a mule's back a floor," began the irre
pressible Griffin, "reminds me of the Irishman's—
Tin-; TAY»:K; 43
"V>y tin- SulTerin<r .Tol>! if you interrupt her airain
I'll pitch you into tlio middle of the valley ! Do you
hear ( <io on, Madeline."
" Really, papa, I am so overwhelmed l>y the irrace-
ful and elal>oratc introduction you p'utlemen have
</iven inc. that 1 feel altogether inadequate to the
occasion, i I am already talked out, and I'm
afraid I am/)// out, too. I've plowed and thrilled,
and thrilled and plowed, in spite of Robert's fool-
erics, till I can irlow and thrill no longer, even at
such a scene as this. It seems to me less modern
than almost anything else we've seen. Tho>e odd,
warlike little castles bristling on those rocks, scowl
ing so anirrily down on that Arcadian valley, carry
UK; back to the Dark A;.
The word "Arcadian" roused her father's ire.
"'Arcadian!'" he snarled, "of all the swindling -
"Order!" .-limited (irillin.
"Papa i- ]>• ri'ectly in order," raid Madeline, "I've
finished my addr
"Of all swindling, classical humbug, that word is
the meanest ! AVhat is Arcadia but a miserable mias
matic swamp '. What are the Arcadian shepherd-
that so much line poetry is written about but a :
of lyin^, thievinir, laxy, squalid scoundrels, that ou^ht
to be guillotined without mercv '. Oh, /'/',• seen
'em!" '
" Aah," ])rotest(Ml Tsiiras. "you spik {injustice,
Monsieur Paul. You have sin onlee the Ka.-t, which
is mar.-h. You mils' visit the AVestern Arcadia. It
is no JStymphaalian marsh there. .Monsieur Paul, but
44
mountains ami noble forest. It is laike the S \vitz'-
land. In tlio Western Arcadia a rude but manly
raiice keeped tlicir lienl of sheeps, and they hunted
the bears, too, also. Arcadia have dernive his naiiine
from tho>e bears. You remember the stoary, Mon
sieur Paul '(—
" ' Catti-i<!>> . 1 rr<nli»x i /•/•///•» rut ursa per agrosS "
"No, I don't recall it at this moment," replied the
major, winking at Madeline.
" The Arcadian pipple," resumed Tsaras, " were a
hardee pipple. They lived upon the acorns and the
flesh of the pig, and although they haved not the cn-
t'rgee and the enterpraise, they were ver' strong in
their bodee. They were ver' tempcraiite, too, also.
A fountain was at Kleitor which maiikc them to haiite
the wines."
"I shall be careful how I drink at Arcadian fount
ains," muttered Griffin.
" Their bes' young men refused to dwell in Arca
dia in so simple laife — but they went 'way to other
Htailte, and they faighted with the both saides when it
was war."
" Are those little castles the former strongholds of
the klephts f asked Madeline, "or were they to pro
tect honest people from them ?"
"No, Miss Paul. The klephts were never in per
manent dwelling, and they never caame ver' mooch
down here. Those castles were builted in those un
settle taimes when every man look upon every man
laikc the assassin. You see each of those castles are
THK TA': .j:,
rock elevaate — lie is on a akropolis by his own
i perfect illustraation of the media--
val feudal systems. Kach of those little white cas
tles are baronial castles in the miniaature.''
•• I low romantic !"
•• And those," said Griffin, nodding towards a party
of dirty, ra^jvd urchins, who had been •jratherin^
•let anemones by the way-side, and were now star
ing open-mouthed at tin- pawing cavalcade — ''those, I
suppose, are some of the Imrun* in miniature."'
" \'ea<; I tiling it is, Monsieur (Jrilliu."
•• I- there no need of Hich stroiiirholds nowadays C
puivued .Madeline. "Are tin • ill feuds anioii^
muLrh people ?"
MNo more feud than it is feud in your coun-
tree."
me handy, thoiiirh," d Major
I'aul, "if i: ;il«l be an inva-ioii of northern
klephts, wouldn't they '."
" F do not know * hand'
• I "-ei'ul, convenient."
•• Aah. yeafl. They would be ver' useful."
Here Aunt Kli/.a bu-tled up, and irave ^i^ns that
.^lie had something to say, T.-;ira> turned to her with
• •ctful inquiry.
" You really think, Profcssov T-iiras, that there i<
no probability of our meeting any brigands, do you ;"
" JJri^ands '. No. 1cut-<if~ii ; no brigands are in the
18. If they are here, they would be afraaid
La with the e .re than we would be afraaid
at them."
46 A DEMIGOD.
" One sight of aunty's seven-shooter would scatter
'era," said Griffin, with an exasperating grin.
"I sincerely hope there will be no test of the
courage of any of us," retorted Aunt Eliza, with a
scornful sniff.
"I don't know. I believe I should rather like the
chance of bagging a brace or two of such game."
" It does not occur to you," put in Madeline, u that
yon might possibly be bagged yourself."
" Well, I should die in a, noble cause. I should
make a handsome corpus, shouldn't I ? Imagine me
with my marble features turned up to the stars, like a
dismantled Greek statue. How would this style do ?"
He threw his head back and closed his eyes, purs
ing his lips into a cupid's bow.
" Robert !" cried Madeline, angrily.
"And you would shed a silent tear or two over
my grave, wouldn't you, cousin dear ?"
" I suppose you expect me to be overwhelmed with
horror and admiration, but I'm not in the least.
You think your talk sounds brave, but it doesn't — it
only sounds brutal and disgustingly shallow. I know
very well you don't want to die any more than the
rest of us. You wouldn't joke much if the brigands
should really come. I'll warrant you'd be the very
first to run."
To tell the truth, I am a little ashamed of my her
oine's sharpness of tongue. But what can I do?
She's a true daughter of her father, and everybody
knows lie has the best, warmest heart in the world,
rave he or storm he never so fiercely.
THE TAYGETUS. 47
Griffin's good-nature was usually imperturbable ;
but this tirade, particularly the closing taunt, ap
peared to penetrate his thick armor. Without a
word in reply, he rode forward and joined the gens-
<r<trines, with whom he remained for hours. Made
line gradually became pensive. Her answers to
Aunt Eliza became more and more short and irrele
vant. Finally she said, in a low voice, " I'm very
sorry I called him a coward. We women don't real
ize how sensitive they are on that point."
" Oh, my dear, don't fret your heart about that.
He'll be back here soon, frivolous as ever. To tell
the truth, I shouldn't be sorry if you had given him
his quietus for a while. I'm tired of his twitter-
twatter."
"Don't be ungrateful," returned Madeline, blazing
up. " We should all have been stupid enough with
out him."
The progress of the cavalcade through the valley
created an intense excitement among its rural deni
zens. The farmer left his plough, which, judged
from its appearance, might have been the very one
left by Cincinnatus in its furrow ; the housewife left
her loaves, the washer-woman left her linen by the
riverside, and one and all came running to see the
strangers, to ask who and what they were, whence
they came, whither they were going, and wherefore.
Among the men there were some of magnificent
physique. It would not have been difficult to fancy
these the lineal descendants of the famous Three
4
A DEMIGOD.
Hundred, had it not been for their speech, which was
the exact reverse of " Laconic."
"Do you suppose your famous Hector Vyr, that
we've heard so much about, is any liner follow than
one of these i"1 asked Madeline of Professor Tsjira-.
"Oh yeas, Miss Paul. Hector Vyr is a Ixixlliax
in compare to them. lie is a maighty bodee ; he is
a maighty intellects ; he is ver' gret beautee, laiko
to those statues of old (I recce."
" Dear me ! We must not fail to find him, on any
consideration whatever."
" Aah, we shall not faind him. He would run away
from ns, laike as he is a waild man of the forest."
'• Then we must run after him, and capture him
for the Zoological Museum at Central Park."
" Ha, ha, ha ! I thing you capture him, Miss Paul.
Not any other shall capture him."
The women in the crowd, as a rule, looked stunted
and labor-worn ; but no amount of oppression and
fatigue could mitigate their ceaseless chatter.
AVhen they halted for supper in a valley bright
with oleanders, Griffin had evidently forgotten his
pique. He seasoned, with his usual amount of fun,
the luxurious meal of bread, fresh goat's milk, and
new cheese curd. In the cool of the evening he and
Madeline strolled up the side of a savage hill, furred
with little pines and bristling armies of thistles.
The great, ugly blossoms of tall hollyhocks, growing
wild, stared at them from the way-side. Here and
there on the naked rocks they found the flowers of
the caper-vine.
4!)
"Did you enjoy y»ur talk with the guards this
•.•noun, Robert ?" Madeline asked, critically exam
ining one of the wonderful ilowers last named, which
lie had plucked for her.
" Very much. We found each other quite enter
taining."1
" What could you lind to say for so lon^ a time ?"
"<>h, there were ]>K'n!y of tiling to talk about.
They told me all about the discipline in the (I reek
army, and their scrimmages with the klephi . A"
cording to their account of themselves, we have some
of the greatest heroes in the world for our escort. I
wasn't pi ne so very lonir, was I .'"
" Nearly three hour.-."1
"Oh no: impossible. It couldn't have been more
than two. You ou-'ht to be thankful for even that
relief.'' There was a sliirhi perceptible tremor in his
voice.
•• Robert, ".burst out Madeline, patting her hand
oil his arm, " 1 want you to forgive me for bein^ so
unkind and unjust to you to-day."
"Nonsense. .Madp-. Who said you we're unkind
or unjust ?"
" Not you. Y«.;i arc' only too indulgent. It is my
own conscience that upbraids me."
"Tell your conscience to keep the peace. What
business is it of hers, anyway? If you and I can't
have a comfortable, friendly little spat without her
interference, it's time she packed up and went
home."
"Well, that's like vou, Robert. With all my
50 A DEMIGOD.
fa tilt -finding of you, you have one great, admi
rable virtue which far outweighs all my lesser
ones."
" Oh, come now, none of that. I know what I
am as well as you. I know I'm a coarse-grained,
irreverent chap, without a particle of poetry or sen
timent in my composition. I know how I ride
rough-shod over all your finest fancies, and continu
ally break up your poetic rhapsodies with my ill-
timed nonsense. But what can I do, Madge? I
can't very well change my nature. You may have
heard a recondite remark in reference to the leopard
and the Ethiopian, which applies to my case. If it
were not for you, I don't know as I would care to
change my spots. As far as I am concerned, I am
happy enough as I am. There's an awful lot of
drudgery in becoming what you call 'highly culti
vated,' and I am essentially and congenitally lazy.
As I have often told you, I hate work of all kinds.
Why shouldn't I ? Doesn't Sir William Hamilton
call work pain? What's the nigger's — I beg your
pardon — what's the negro's ideal of paradise? A
place from whence all kinds of labor are banished,
like foul fiends from the Christian's paradise. And,
by the same token, is the Christian's ideal very dif
ferent ? ' He has gone to his eternal rest? I believe,
is the favorite epitaph."
" Oh, Robert, can't you talk a single hour without
being sacrilegious ?"
" I assure you nothing was farther from my inten
tion. Isn't what I say true? Don't they say, 'His
THE TAYGETUS. 51
labors arc over?' Haven't you always been taught
that heaven is an eternal Sabbath of rest ?"
" Rest from trials and sufferings, that means — not
rest from labors — that is, occupations."
" Well, labors and sufferings are synonymous terms
with me. It has always been so, and I am afraid it
always will. I was always at the very foot of my
class in college — not, I flatter myself, from any
marked deficiency in natural parts, but from sheer,
dogged laziness. How in the world I picked up the
smattering I have of Greek and Latin is really a
mystery, for I do not remember ever studying a
lesson in my life."
"Exaggeration always weakens," interrupted Mad
eline.
" I used the word ' study ' in its true sense. I say
I always hated work and always shall. And of all
kinds of work, 'self-cultivation" is, by all odds, the
hardest. I suppose, if I could only make up my
mind to the effort, I might in time be able to work
myself up to the pitch of appreciating the Parthe
non and that old decayed Church of St. Nicholas as
you do. But heavens! think of the labor. Imagine
the subtle, endless pain Phidias must have endured
before he was able to design his statues and his tem
ples, with their Ionic curves and their aerial perspec
tive! Imagine the mental tortures •which have spun
out the Concord Philosophy, whatever that may be!"
"It is all a mistake, Robert," replied Madeline,
earnestly, "a tremendous mistake. It is not true
that all kinds of labor are painful. There is a vast
52 A DEMIGOD.
difference between the labor of the negro slave and
that of Phidias and the Concord philosophers, —
though I don't profess to know anything of them
except by reputation."
Robert laughed.
" "Well, what amuses you ?"
" Nobody seems ashamed of his ignorance on that
subject. Even you hastened to assure me of your
ignorance, as if you were afraid I should think you
did understand them."
"Why do you say 'even' I? Have I impressed
you as a Blue Stocking?" asked Madeline, quickly.
" Not in the least, my dear cousin ; that is, not
disagreeably. I have always been a humble admirer
of your accomplishments — your musical skill, your
knack at verse-making, your exquisite appreciation
of art and nature, and all that sort of thing."
" I am afraid your admiration has been cheaply
earned. But I want to tell you that whatever of
such things I have has been acquired without any
thing like what you call painful drudgery. I have
been conscious only of pleasure."
" Oh, well," rejoined Robert, as he carelessly sent
a flat stone skimming over the low trees down the
slope, "you -were born so, I wasn't. That's the dif
ference."
" No," protested Madeline ; " the difference is not
so much a natural one as it is a different way of
looking at things. It is more a difference of opinion
than of nature. You and I have conceived different
notions of the values of things, that's all. But I say
TIIK FAYGETCS. 53
again to yon, Robert, and most solemnly, that you
have made a great mistake. You don't know how
much you lose of the best and sweetest things in
life by your habit of viewing everything in either
a ludicrous or what you are pleased to call a sensi
ble light. If I could only change your opinions, I
should have no fears for the result."
"Well,"1 sighed Robert, violently switching off a
big thistle-top with his walking-stick, "perhaps you
are right. As T have told yon several times, I don't,
pretend to understand myself very well — the subject
is too deep for my limited comprehension."
•• And so our talk must end in a stupid old joke!''
cried Madeline, provoked and disappointed.
'•Heigh-ho, didn't 1 tell you 1 was incorrigible?
You can't carve a marble statue out of a block of
pumice-stone. But tell me, Madge," he said, his
whole manner suddenly changing, " is it going to
make any difference in our — in your — Sha'n't you
me just as well C
Madeline clasped his arm affectionately with both
her hands. •• You are my own dear cousin Robert,"
she said ; " and I love you for your good heart, your
inexhaustible good-nature, your patience under my
numerous provocations. But, as for — it is as I have
always told you, Robert."
He shook off her hands' angrily. " And so, because
I can't go into raptures over a rotten old church, or
write idiotic sonnets to the moon, you can't return
as true a love as a man ever offered!"
"No, Robert, it is not that. Can't you believe
54 A DEMIGOD.
me a sensible woman ? I know how little poetry and
all that have to do with real life — but i><>< ti'ij is not
the only thing you have just acknowledged that you
have no taste for. You—
She was about to say a very pertinent but humili
ating thing, but her good heart forbade, at that time,
at least. " If I could feel towards you as you wish,"
she went on, after a moment's hesitation, " I solemnly
assure you that our differences of opinion on any sub
ject would not make the least real difference."
"Jfyou. could — but it is those very differences that
prevent you, is it not ?"
" I don't know. Your peculiar tastes and inclina
tions — you can hardly expect me to sympathize with
the ) n, can you?"
" I understand you perfectly," he answered, bitter
ly. " You could trust your future to an unrornantic
man, but not to a lazy one. You are right. Adver
sity might come. Riches have wings. Yes, you are
sensible, Madeline Paul, eminently sensible. Oh,
what a fool I have been ! what a consummate fool !"
" You read me with your own sordid mind," re
torted Madeline, turning pale in the twilight. "If
your riches were multiplied tenfold, and I knew with
positive certainty that they would increase hour by
hour to the day of your death, I would not trust you
with my future !"
She stepped haughtily in advance. Griffin fol
lowed, silently and dejectedly whipping off the this
tle-tops with his stick. Thus they walked on till
they came to the steep, rocky bed of a cataract, now
THE TAYGETUS. 55
dry, lying directly in tlicir patli. lie sprung to her
-tance. As lie did so, she caught the mournful
pathos in his face and mien, and her heart swelled.
"Oh, liobert !" she burst forth, "I love you dcar-
Iv. and we might be so happv together, if you only
would."
"It isn't the kind of love I want," lie replied,
hoarsely. "Give me time, Madge. I will change.
I promise it. You'll see a dill'erent man in me —
only give me time — and hope."
She shook her head sadly, pityingly.
" Then I — " he began in a loud, fierce tone, but
instantly checked himself. They returned without
another word to the encampment.
This consisted of a humble <;ni/,<t built of stones,
and partly covered by an awning of black goat's-hair
cloth, in which Miss Wellington (Aunt Klixa) and
-Madeline were quartered. A few feet distant from
the ctijimt a large lire was kindled, fresh boughs of
spruce-fir were' brought as an under-matt ress for the
beds, and on these the men of the party stretched
themselves, iu the pure, dewless air, cooled by the
snows of the mountains and perfumed by the fra
grance of the valley, under a sky so clear that the
stars scarcely twinkled. The only sounds that broke
the stillness of evening were the tinkling of distant
sheep-bells, the reeds of shepherds, the soft, clear
notes of the cuckoo, and the " br< k> k< /.•<'./• £000,
of the frogs in the depth of the valley.
50 A DEMIGOD.
V.
THE BRIGANDS.
WHAT unhappy wight is that who hath never
breathed the air of morning in the mountains, hav
ing slept in the open air? Let him not die until he
hath tasted this most dainty tidbit at the banquet of
nature. Till then, he shall not know the full extent
of his own capacity for the enjoyment of his physi
cal senses. Till then, he shall never know how blue
and purple and golden is the sky, how green is the
grass, how white is the snow, how sparkling are the
waters — nor how clear are his own eyes, how keen
his ears, how elastic his lungs, how resounding his
t O i O
voice, how bounding his step.
Till they had experienced this rare pleasure, our
travellers certainly had never known what an ex
quisite flavor there is to crisp toast and broiled lamb,
or what an utterly insignificant task it is to break
camp and resume a difficult, dangerous journey.
They passed through a succession of olive orchards,
currant plantations, vineyards, and wheat-fields whose
dark-red loam was just beginning to turn green. In
the glens were little groves of oleander and myrtle.
Sage, wild thyme, and mastic shrub thinly covered
the "stony shoulders of the hills." At short inter-
THK J;I;I<;A\I>S. .-,7
vals they halted by tlie side of little streams to rest
and water their animals,, while Aunt Eliza and Made
line plucked bouquets of crocuses and violets, and
listened to the loud song of the nightingale and the
softer, more musical notes of the blackbird.
(Jradually the country became wilder. Cultivated
fields disappeared, and only an occasional hut of
stones and mud gave evidence of human occupation,
far from noon they came to a village of twenty-
five or thirty of these huts. From his gestures and
manner with certain of their tenants Tsaras appeared
to be inquiring his route. The fact that the answer
ing hands pointed in different directions was not re-
iring, and, although Major Paul and his party had
bv this time become somewhat inured to the prevail
ing (livek custom of misdirecting and misstating dis
tances, they began to be seriously alarmed. In reply
to the major's questions, however, the guide said
there was no cause for anxiety ; he knew perfectly
well what he was about. Jjut the path grew still
narrower and more obstructed by branches and un
dergrowth, and finally divided into two branches
equally worn, or rather ///Avorn, by travel. Tsaras.
and £he commander of the escort began to wrangle
on the question which of these branches to take.
Major Paul promptly ordered, Kight about, march.
Tsa ras remonstrated.
The major repeated his order more peremptorily.
Tsaras entreated.
The major got thoroughly angry, and stormed the
little guide into silence and acquiescence.
58 A DEMIGOD.
r>u t it proved easier to order a return than to exe
cute the order. After a while they failed to recog
nize objects which they passed. The path became
more and more difficult, and at last merged into a
Hume of blue limestone, which led — no one knew
whither. A little distance at one side of the flume
was the sharp edge of a precipice overhanging a
frightful chasm, to glance into which took the breath
away and made the heart stand still, No one — guide,
escort, or tourist — could longer doubt the trutli —
They were lost in the mountains!
The rich color faded from Madeline's cheek ; but
her mind was soon diverted from her own situation
by the greater, or at least more demonstrative, terror
of Aunt Eliza. Griffin, who had all day been sullen
and taciturn, was the only one who remained cool
and collected. Major Paul bore down upon the woe
begone guide like a centaur charging in battle.
"You infernal scoundrel!" he roared, "what do
you mean by getting us into this scrape? Didn't
you tell me you had been over the route C '
" Oh, Monsieur Paul, I beseech you not spik so
loud. I have been over the route — but — but — but —
it have been changes. The path is no more laike as
lie was. I tzwear to you, Monsieur Paul, I have
done the ver' bes' that I was aiible — by my honor,
Monsieur Paul, I tzwear !"
"Done the best you were able! Idiot! Why
didn't you stay at home? That would have been the
best you were able, you gesticulating, speech-making,
Homer-quoting ass !"
THE BRIGANDS. OU
r>ut fury and resonant reproaches promised no
help. A council was held, in which it was decided
that two of the fjcns-<I'<ii'in> * should ride pos
sible up the flume, then dismount and make their
way on foot until they could command the widest
";>lc view of the surrounding country.
The scouts had scarcely disappeared, and the rest
of the party were disposing themselves as comfort
ably as possible to await their return, when a tall
figure stepped forth from the bushes and advanced
leisurely towards them.
It was a man of thirty-five or forty, dressed in the
Albanian costume— jacket and i'ustanelli of coarse
white woollen stuiT, and leggings of leather. From
his bare head hung two heavy braids of shining black
hair. His face was swarthy, and ornamented with a
jetty musta'-he. lie was armed with a pair of silver-
mounted pistols and a yataghan. As he advanced
he extended his arms and called out in a clear, ring
ing voice,
•• ]\'<il,'x orizeU /"
"!!«• Bays4 \\rclcome,'" explained Tsaras, in a low,
trembling tone.
The four gen+4l?<HnMl nnslung their carbines and
brought them to their shoulders.
" Alt !" (halt), ordered the lieutenant.
M h'i/fl.i.i-,* pfoo sou!" (look behind you), replied
the strangi-r.
.X.»t thirty yards distant the gcns-(]\trmes and their
party saw a score of dark faces glaring over the thick
bushes, each behind a long black tube.
A DEMIGOD.
"Robbers, by gorry P ejaculated Major Paul,
springing to his feet and drawing his revo!
"Madeline, my girl, conic lierc."
But the more alert (Jrillin was already beside the
t\vo women, whom lie was apparently trying to form
into a hollow square.
The brigand, coming still nearer, spoke a few
words, which Tsiiras translated as follows:
"Throw down your arms, and you shall not be
harmed. Attempt to fire, and that instant every
man dies, and the women are our prisoners."
The order was sullenly obeyed.
The brigand stood motionless a few seconds, then
made an impatient gesture.
'•What are your commands?" asked the lieuten
ant.
"Make the woman give up that pistol, or take it
from her."
Aunt Eliza still grasped her tiny weapon, her
white lips pressed together in desperate determina
tion.
"It's of no use," said Madeline, wonder-struck at
her own calmness. " They have us at their mercy."
She disengaged the pistol from the thin, nervous
hand, which yielded mechanically to her gentle force,
and threw it on the ground with the rest of the sur
rendered arms.
In the mean time the brigands, twenty strong,
closed in around their prisoners, shouting, " Zito /"
(huzzah), and manifesting in a hundred ways exul
tation over their bloodless victory.
Till-: UKIt!A> 61
They were. f<>r tlir most part, vigorous youn^ ras
cals, dressed like their leader, save that some of them
Wore r-ha^iry capotes. They speedily relieved their
prisoners <>f their watches and purses, ordered them
to ivmount, and hurried them alon<^ the rocky path
way formed by the tlnme, five or six brigands bein^
• in advance to intercept the two gtns-d'arm** wiio
were acting as scouts.
The chief soon opened a conversation with Major
Paul, with the aid of Tsaras.
" You BOO," lie h'-iraii, "that we are well acquaint
ed with your movrmrnts. We had the good-fortune
to hi'ar of your intended viVit."
"Through the (Greek < iovernment, no doubt," rc-
])lied the major, blazing with unutterable scorn and
fury.
"Oh no, my good friend. Yon must not blame
the (iovernment. It was one of the (Government's
metscngen that informed us — and he not <''t!lin<fly,
bv anv means. The poor </,/</<r.",,* could not help
himself."
The major uttered an inarticulate <^ro\vl.
"We have been following you for the last four
hours,'' the brigand went on. " You, I prc>ume, arc
liis nobility, the American /i*/y//V'// Paulf
" Miijor, damn your impudence!" (It is hardly
necessary to state that the less conciliatory pa>sauvs
in the major's remarks were translated with coii-id-
vrable freedom by the less impetuous, more politic
interpreter, i "And now perhaps you will condescend
to tell me what ou are oinir to do with us '.' '
C3 A DEMIGOD.
" Oh, you will know in good time, your nobility.
But don't be uneasy. Make yourselves perfectly
happy ; we shall treat you like princes."
" That's the very thing we are afraid of," inter
posed Griffin, who rode immediately behind. " But
tell him, Charley, that we are no princes. We are
simple American citizens in extremely humble cir
cumstances."
" Yes," added the major, with majestic anger, "and
they will have to answer to the American Govern
ment — tell him that, too, Tsaras — a government that
can depopulate this whole worm-eaten frontier of
hell in a week !"
" Ah, you refer us to the American Government.
We shall be happy to negotiate with so noble and
famous a nation. I am sure they will show a liber
ality worthy of their wealth and glory. England,
France, Germany — all the great nations — are always
ready to pay our price for the sake of relieving their
valuable citizens from embarrassment. But I beg
your pardon. I have not introduced myself. I am
the Kapitdn Peschino, of whom you have doubtless
heard. No ? Alas, such is glory ! I supposed ev
erybody knew the exploits of the Kapitdn Peschino."
He spoke with honest chagrin.
"Peschino?" asked Griffin, as if suddenly recol
lecting.
"Ah yes; you have heard of me, Appente?"
"Are you not sometimes called his Reverence,
Father Peschino ?"
" No. It is my brother you arc thinking of. He
THE BRIGANDS. G3
is a priest at MikroMaina. It is not strange, how
ever, that YOU should make the mistake — we are said
to be very much alike."
Poor (.Trillin's face fell. His American jokes would
all be lost on that complacent scoundrel.
The procession rapidly ascended the rocky path
way, a brigand at each bridle, until the report of fire
arms brought them to a sudden halt.
" It is nothing," shouted Peschino to his men.
" They have found the two soldiers. Forward !"
They soon came up with the detachment. Both
g6ti&d*armes and one brigand were wounded, one of
the former badly. Peschino dressed their wounds
with considerable surgical skill, graciously accepting
Madeline's help. He then called up two of the un-
woimded soldiers.
"Take four of the mules, with rations for tlvree
days, and conduct your comrades home. Ivemind
your commandant that he has not yet sent the three
thousand drachmas to the demarch of Mikro-Mainn,
as he promised, and that I shall hold these two sol
diers till he does. When you reach the base of the
Hume take the path to your right — keep always to
your right, and you will easily find the road to Mara-
thonisi. KaUm kdt&vodion (farewell); remember to
bathe the wounds with cold water every hour — and
may (iod send speedy healing!"
The march was then resumed. On reaching the
upper end of the Hume, they struck into a rough,
stony path, which, with many windings, up natural
stair-ways, over narrow bridges, along the brink of
G4 A DEMIGOD.
frightful precipices, finally brought them to a level
open space. Here they found a large flat rock, above
which rose an inaccessible cliff, divided through the
middle by a fissure just wide enough to admit of the
passage of one mounted man at a time.
This was evidently the gate-way to the robbers'
stronghold. Within they were absolutely safe. The
heaviest artillery would be powerless against that
eternal masonry, and a little band of resolute men
could hold that narrow Thermopylae against any num
ber of enemies, whom it would be but sport to top
ple over the precipices as they filed slowly up, one
by one. Should the garrison weary of the sport, or
should provisions become scanty, their enemies would
find their stronghold like a last year's bird's -nest.
They, with their prisoners, should the latter live so
long, would be with the birds.
The brigands now busied themselves in the prep
aration of a sumptuous meal, obtained chiefly from
the contents of their captives' panniers. Their own
contribution consisted of three or four fine pheasants
and sundry bottles of wine (recmato\ which would
have been good but for the villanous resin with
which it was abundantly spiced. The flat rock
formed an excellent dining-table, to which the con
fiscated dishes and napkins imparted a wonderfully
civilized air, in strange contrast with its wild sur
roundings. The stimulating mountain air, together
with the excitement and fatigue they had undergone,
gave the whole party a sharp appetite. Hungry and
exhausted soldiers will eat voraciouslv on the eve of
THE BRIGANDS. 05
the bloodiest battle. So our unhappy friends, not
withstanding their situation, did full justice to the
banquet.
The captors were exceedingly jubilant over their
ea.-y and complete success, and they took the utmost
pains to entertain their " guests," and to make them
forget their uncomfortable predicament.
The meal over, the brigands sung hilarious songs
in rough but not unmusical voices. Then they per
formed a wild Romaic dance, which their prisoners
witnessed with something akin, at least, to interest.
" "Well, your nobility," said Peschino, approaching
with the interpreter,"! trust you are not so unhap
py as you expected to be."
" I could answer you better," replied the major,
stiffly, "if I knew what you intended to do with us."
"Ilavc a little patience. You shall know all in
good time. In the mean time, neither you nor your
friends shall receive anything but kindness from us.
Cannot you judge my intentions from that? For
example, I am going to allow you to be together as
if you were at your own houses. Xo one shall in
trude upon your privacy. Is not that a comfort to
you? How do I know what plots and conspiracies
you will hatch out among yourselves ? Is not that a
favor and a great comfort to you ?"
"It is indeed, Peschino," replied the major, with
a long breath of relief. "I thank you for that with
my whole heart, whatever else you may do. But
you have little to fear from the plots and conspiracies
of two weak women and two unarmed men."
66 A DEMIGOD.
'''•Three unarmed men," corrected Tsaras, with a
look of grieved reproach that would have melted a
stone.
" Of course, of course — three unarmed men." But
there was a mental reservation. There should be no
interpreter of "plots and conspiracies" admitted to
the family councils.
As if to prove his good faith at once, Peschino
ordered his men away from the prisoners, bidding
them keep their distance on peril of his severe dis
pleasure.
" Now, your nobility," he said, with a magnani
mous wave of his hand, " you will have the goodness
to excuse me for a time. Should you desire any
thing, it will be easy to find me." lie turned to the
women, placed his hand on his heart, bowed pro
foundly, and departed.
VI.
WITHOUT THE GATES.
TSARAS, too, although he yearned for a share in
their mutual condolence, was considerate enough to
leave the family by themselves around the flat rock.
Madeline was the least downcast of the little group.
The specious courtesy and kindne&s with which they
had been treated thus far made her comparatively
cheerful and hopeful. She spoke enthusiastically of
the inestimable privilege they were then enjoying,
WITHOUT TUK GATES. 67
none of the brigands being in sight, with the excep
tion of a solitary .sentinel at a very respectful dis
tance.
"That is the only thing that surprises me," an
swered her father. "I expected the rascal would
keep us apart, of course, until after the 'examina
tion ' he has promised. Madeline, have you any idea
what I am worth 2"
" Ten times your weight in diamonds !" answered
the impulsive girl, in whom the transition from de
spair to hopefulness, however slight, produced a
reaction no less surprising to herself than to the
others.
"I'm afraid you'd find it hard to realize that amount
on the property in the market. Come here and kiss
me, you little Zouave. Now answer my question
properly, yon good-for-nothing rubbish. Do you
know how much I'm worth C
"I haven't the slightest idea, papa. I only know
that we have everything that money can buy."
"Eliza, what do you know f
".No more than Aladeline does," sobbed the poor
lady, raising her tear- disfigured countenance. "I
wish, with all my heart, I didn't know as much."
" Well, I suppose I can trust to your discretion if
you should be questioned. You don't know any
thing, of course, Robert."
" Thank you, uncle, you are pleased to be compli
mentary.''
" "Well, I am glad you people can joke, I am sure,"
gaid Aunt Eliza, in a tone of the deepest reproach.
68 A DEMIGOD.
" I have always thought those who cannot feel are
the happiest."
"Feel!" cried Robert, "what's the use of feeling?
We're all in a tremendous scrape, I'll admit. You
and Madge ought to have taken Uncle Warren's and
my advice. I suppose you realize that now. But
crying and taking on forever isn't going to get us
out of the scrape, is it ? Come, aunty, be a man !
See how plucky Madge is. She believes, as I do,
that we are coming out all right. — What do I know,
uncle ? Why, you have lately failed, haven't you ?
You are reduced to the most abject beggary."
" Not too strong, my dear boy," replied the major,
with a meagre smile. " Beggars don't travel all over
Europe with their families for pleasure. These vil
lains are not fools."
" They are fools enough to leave us to concoct our
lies in private, and make them hang together," re
torted Robert, airily.
" Oh, don't call them by that name," piped Aunt
Eliza. "There is no occasion for — We can say
everything that is required for our own advantage
and still adhere to the strict truth. I wouldn't tell
a falsehood even to save my life !"
"How about the rest of us?" insisted Robert.
"Wouldn't you prevaricate a little to save our
lives?"
" No good ever comes from evil."
" You hear her !" Robert exclaimed, turning indig
nantly to the other two. " Shall we let this woman
sacrifice us all to her fanaticism ?"
WITHOUT THE GATES. 69
" You do your own duty, and trust me to do mine,
^\Ir. (.irillin !" retorted Aunt Kli/u, forgetting her de
spair in her wrath.
" Didn't you just say that you wouldn't tell a —
"Neither shall I. I'm not obliged to utter either
truth or falsehood, am 1 ? All the robbers in Greece
can't make me speak if I won't /"
"Brava! I apologize most humbly. If you only
won't spoil the effect of my lies, I shall be satisfied.
Remember all : I am a poor devil of a student not
worth a continental, and in debt for my education —
a precious small debt that would be, based on its true
value."
" I don't suppose it will make the slightest differ
ence what any of us say," said the major, musingly.
"They probably don't expect to get anything out of
us by their 'examination.' If they did they certain
ly wouldn't be idiotic enough to leave us together
like this. They'll set their own ransom, without
much reference to us."
A gloomy silence followed.
"I don't believe they intend us any very great
harm, after all," said Madeline, brightening up at
length. " Their leader laughs a great deal, and I
never was very much afraid of a man who laughs."
"Harm !" snarled her father. "All they want is
our money, of course. They'll rob me and all my
friends of every dollar we've got, cash or credit, and
then they'll let me go, I suppose, to begin life over
again."
" When we do get away," he went on, his passion
70 A DEMIGOD.
rising, "I'll sec whether there's any virtue in the
law of nations! This miserable little government
has incurred a mighty responsibility, let me tell 'em.''
" Oh dear !" sighed Aunt Eliza. " Don't you be
lieve those soldiers will bring any one to rescue
us ?"
The major laughed with bitter contempt. " It's
my belief that the army, government, and all are in
collusion with the devils — pestilence rot their filthy
bodies ! Yes," he cried, his passion rising higher
and higher, "pestilence, consumption, palsy, small
pox, cholera — leprosy, carbuncles, cancers, boils, pim
ples—"
This feeble anticlimax brought out a general
laugh, in which, after a while, the major himself was
forced to join. Even Aunt Eliza smiled, so potent
an anodyne Avas her recent anger at her graceless
nephew.
"Besides being absurd, yon are terribly unjust,
papa," said Madeline. " You forget those poor sol
diers who shed their blood in our defence."
"Heh?"
" What better pledge of good faith can you ask
than their Mood ?"
"Well, perl laps I was a little hard on the army.
But suppose the whole army should come to rescue
us, what could it do in this wilderness ? Look at
that rock ! Besides, lon^ before the advanced cruard
' O O
could scale the mountain, the infernal rascals would
have us miles away. I don't want to dampen your
good spirits, my darling girl, but we mustn't enter-
WITHOUT THE GATES. 71
tain any nonsensical hopes, for they will make our
only the hardrr to hear when it COOK
"Kate! What do you mean? They don't want
anything but our ii«>n< y, do they '"
" Isn't that enough, for Heaven's sake ?"
"I can work, you know, dear papa. I can teach
and paint and embroider and — "
"Wadi and scrub," put in Robert, "and sell apples
and peanuts, and do the professional Long-haired
Lady, ami— "
" Robert can help, too."
However Madeline had been annoyed by her cous
in's "ill-timed facetiousncss '' in days gone by, it was
peculiarly welcome to her now. Ever since their
stroll together the evening before — which now seem-
o o
ed so long ago — she had felt a tender pity for him
that made her resolve never to scold him again, what
ever he might do or say. She was deeply grateful
to him for having since made no allusion to the mo
mentous conversation that had occurred. To all this
was added admiration for the coolness, courage, and
wonderful buoyancy of spirits he had displayed all
through the trying ordeal they had been undergoing.
"Robert can help, too," she retorted, giving him a
beaming smile from her eyes. "lie can dig, and
carry a hod, and exhibit as the Bearded Lady, and —
"To me" broke in Aunt Eliza, with gloomy as-
prrity, "the extraordinary levity of you two seems
absolutely Jt«trtl> NX, when we're all in such a horrible
situation."
"Horrible? I think it is suMf /,/<'" replied Hob-
72 A DEMIGOD.
crt, gayly. " You're always saying ' How romantic !'
—what do you want more romantic than this ? Ural
brigands, aunty, real brigands ! None o' your ' su
pers,' with false eyebrows and tin daggers. Then
look at that scenery — did you ever see anything
equal to that at the Boston Theatre? It would eotft
the management a cool fifty thousand, at least, to
match it ! Then look at the company — what could
be better? Besides a chorus of genuine brigands,
with genuine eyebrows, and genuine calves to their
legs, here is a picturesque group of real prisoners in
real distress — "
"Yes," moaned Aunt Eliza, "that's true enough.
Oh, if it were only a play !"
" Well, we can make believe it is, can't we ?" re
plied the undaunted Griffin. "We've made real
evils of imaginary ones often enough ; now let us
make imaginary evils of real ones. There's Uncle
Warren: we'll suppose his vigorous cursing is only
a specimen of matchless elocution — it won't be the
first time such a supposition has been made. Mad
eline is the heroine, whose beautiful distress is soon
to be rewarded with a thousand dollars and a cham
pagne supper."
"Thousand dollars! That's an unfortunate re
minder, Robert," groaned the major.
"Never mind. For 'out' read 'in,' and it's all
right. Then there's Aunt Eliza — she's the second
lady, in love with the bucolic Professor Tsaras."
"You — aren't you ashamed of yourself?" exclaim
ed Miss Wellington, in crimson indignation.
WITHOUT THE GATES. 73
" It's only the play, I tell you, aunty," laughed
Griflin, gleefully. u I'm reading the cast, that's all.
Professor Tsarns, an impecunious but high-souled
Argive, with a romantic attachment to the lovely
and equally high-souled Heloise."
" "Warren, will you tell him to stop ?"
" Stop !" said the major, with a tremendous effort
at severity.
"And I order you to stop, too," added Madeline,
still more authoritatively.
" To hear is to obey. Next is Roberto Grifino,
an—"
"Impudent clown, with a romantic attachment to
himself!'' breaks in Aunt Eliza, stticntto. (Applause,
in which Griffin himself takes the lead.)
Thus their talk went on, now light and anjmated,
now melancholy, prophetic of the worst, now filled
with bitter denunciation of their rapacious enemies.
The full realization of their position came upon them
only at intervals, in throes. Upon Griffin it seemed
to come scarcely at all.
At length Peschino reappeared, issuing from the
narrow passage in the cliff. Like an ambitious and
hospitable landlord, he had been busy directing the
preparations fora reception of his "guests" befitting
their supposed station in life.
lie was accompanied by the interpreter, through
whom he announced to Major Paul that, if agreeable
to "his nobility," he would like a private interview
before conducting him and his party to their quar
ters. He led the way to a sort of wild promenade
74 A DEMIGOD.
at the base of the cliff, bordered by wild thyme and
myrtle.
" Before establishing yon," he began, " in what I
hope will prove not altogether an unpleasant resi
dence among us, it is well that you should know
something of our rules."
The major bowed in haughty disdain.
" As you have already seen, we treat our prisoners
with the utmost kindness. We care for their com
fort, health, even pleasure. Don't be concerned
about the ladies of your party. I swear to you, on
the honor of a klepht, that they shall not suffer the
slightest indignity, nor more discomfort than our rude
life renders unavoidable."
" That will be best for you," answered the major,
savagely; "for I swear to you, on the honor of a
free American citizen, and soldier of the greatest
power on earth, that if any harm comes to them
their friends will not rest till they are terribly re
venged, if it takes twenty years."
Softened as this speech was in the translation, it
brought a fierce, momentary scowl to Pescliino's
face. He said, however, with a sinister smile,
"Speak freely, your nobility. We always allow
our visitors to say what they will. It does us no
harm, and it adds to their comfort. We welcome
anything which will do that. But we digress. I be
gan to tell you about our rules. As I said, we treat
our guests with all due courtesy, and we expect sim
ilar treatment in return." This was said with an air
of gentle rebuke that to a disinterested spectator
WITHOUT THE GATES. 75
would have been irresistibly comical. " You see that
makes it pleasanter for all parties. We advise their
friends of the terms upon which they may be re
leased. These terms we make as reasonable as we can
afford.''
Major Paul gave vent to his feelings in a snort
like that of a locomotive. It made the brigand start
back as if in alarm.
" Your nobility is very demonstrative," he said,
recovering himself. " Permit me to go on. If the
friends are sensible enough to come to our terms, we
restore the little trifles which have been deposited
with us, and take an affectionate farewell of our
guests, to whom, I assure you, we often become
strongly attached."
" There is not the slightest doubt of that," grunted
the major.
The brigand smiled, showing a row of even, white
teeth under his jetty mustache. " You appreciate
humor, I see. We shall be good friends in a little
while. But" — and the smile gave place to an ap
palling look — "if, on the other hand, the friends
prove to be fools, our guests meet with misfortune."
The captive glared at the villain for a few seconds.
Then, with an effort at coolness which proved an ig
noble failure, he replied, ''Look here. Yon seem to
have some of the elements of civility about you—
what do you think of your treatment of honest peo
ple that never harmed you, and on whom you have
not the shadow of a claim P
" It is &?/*//«.•**, your brilliancy — honorable, brave
76 A DEMIGOD.
business. You call it crime. It is not crime ; it is
bravery." *
" H'm ! and what sort of terms do you propose ?"
" Pardon me. Your question is premature. • We
cannot decide so important a point without careful
consideration. As I have already told you, you must
pass an examination before our committee on finance.
We have a regular form of interrogatories which you
must answer on your oath."
" Oh, you have ! But suppose I should refuse to
answer ?"
" I think you will not refuse, your brilliancy. We
have means of persuading that rarely fail."
"You include that in the kind, courteous treat
ment you promise, I suppose. That is one of the
ways you take to make your 'guests,' as you call
them, comfortable and happy."
" Business is business, your nobility. We must
go through with our forms, you know, although we
do so as gently and courteously as is consistent with
efficiency."
Major Paul drew a long, deep breath. "]S"ow,
Captain Peschino, I think you said you would allow
me perfect freedom of speech ?"
" Certainly."
" Well, then, give me your attention, if you please
— and you, Tsaras, give him every word just as I say
it : Of all the insolent, cold-blooded, cowardly, ven-
* The identical remark made by one of Arvanitaki's brigands
on a similar occasion, " Aiv ilvai KctKta, tlvai iraXXrjKapia."
WITHOUT THE GATES. 77
omous, slimy reptiles that ever crawled, you are the
vilest and the slimiest!"
It was of no use for Tsuras to paraphrase. The
speakers face, tone, manner, and gesture were a
sufficient and perfectly literal translation of his
words.
Peschino paled, and for the third time his eye was
lurid with a fiendish light. But his voice was as
smooth and mellow as ever as he replied, " We al
low perfect liberty of speech, but we always charge
for it. You will find it, as the innkeeper says, in
the account. But pardon me, your brilliancy, you
surely do not mean to intimate that we are deficient
in manly courage '*'
"None but cowards would have sneaked up to us
as you did. If you had given us a fair chance, few
as we were, we would have beaten you and driven
you to your holes !''
"Do you think so? It was fortunate, then, that
we did not. Bloodshed would have been very disa
greeable. And now, with your kind approval, we
will return to your friends, that I may have an oj>-
portunity of entertaining the charming young lady
whose superior for beauty and spirit, I'll swear, will
not be found in all Greece."
The major's clinched hand flew up ; but before it
fell, the consciousness of his utter helplessness swept
over him. His hand and his face sunk together.
It was no part of Peschino's policy to exasperate
his captives. Jle was sincere in his desire to render
them as comfortable as the circumstances would per-
78 A DEMIGOD.
mit. lie wanted all their money, and with it as
much of their good-will as he could get.
" My friend," he said, reproachfully, " you do me
injustice. I feel only the most profound respect for
your admirable daughter, and nothing shall tempt
me to alarm or annoy her in the slightest degree. I
mean simply to quiet any fear she may feel as to
the safety of herself and her friends."
He approached Madeline and her aunt with the
grace of a courtier. " Mesdames, is there anything
that can be done to give you pleasure ?"
" Oh yes," moaned Aunt Eliza ; " let us go home !"
" You shall go very soon, kurdtza. A day more
or less in this mountain air, among this sublime sce
nery, can be only a pleasure and a benefit to you —
especially while you are with friends whose chief de
light it will be to supply all your wants, protect you
from all harm — in short, devote themselves to your
comfort and pleasure. You will find the Kapitdn
Peschino no such ogre as you imagine. Has the £0-
pclouda [dear young lady] observed the expansive-
ness of the view? That gray peak that towers so
proudly above the rest is Mount Taleton ; that oth
er, nearly as lofty, but not so pointed, is Belvidere.
You should ascend Belvidere, Jcurd. You would see
all Peloponne'se spread before you like a chart, with
the sea and its islands stretching beyond to the sky."
" We have no fault to find with Grecian scenery,"
responded Madeline, determined not to be charmed
by the gallant villain ; "it is the inhabitants that we
complain of."
WITHOUT THE GATES. 7'J
"All, you will think better of usby-and-by" — ten
derly. MYhen the time of parting comes, you will
not execrate us us you do now; and when you are
once more in your happy homes, surrounded by the
elegancies of civilization, you will think of the poor
wanderers in the wilderness with feelings of compas
sion instead of hatred."
" Provided you leave us any homes to be happy
in," retorted Madeline, with icy indignation.
" Wii shall be the poor wanderers," wailed Aunt
Eli/a.
•• Ah, mesdames, why will you allow your minds to
dwell on that embarrassing subject? Fortune lias
been bountiful to you, while she has driven us to the
mountains, where we should starve if we did not
tight against her cruelty. What are a few thousand
drachmas to his nobility' He will soon recover
them, and be glad, perhaps, that he lias shared his
good things with his unhappy brothers."
""Would you be willing to advance him a small
capital to begin business on f asked Griffin.
There was no sarcasm to Peschino in this question.
" That shall be fully considered, young man," he
said, reflectively, toying with a huge diamond on his
little linger. "I sometimes loan money at reasona
ble usury on good security. That is a matter, how
ever, that rests between the J\<ij>!ti'ni Paul and my
self." lie turned again to .Madeline. "Have you
ever seen such scenery as this in America-.'"
" I can't think of such things now. I can think
of nothing but my pour father. You will not ruin
6
80 A DEMIGOD.
him utterly, will you? He is not young, you see. It
will break his heart — it will break his heart! Oh,"
she cried, clasping her hands in pathetic appeal, "will
you not let us go? You have wealth enough, and
the recollection of your goodness will be a life-long
joy to you. Think what a blessed thing it will be
to you when you stand in the presence of your Mak
er! You cannot take our gold with you there, Pes-
chino — you can take only our blessings for your for
bearance, and our prayers for His mercy to your
guilty soul, or our tears for your cruelty !"
As her tall form stood erect on the rock, her hand
pointing upward, her pure, white face looking down
on the dark -faced miscreant, she seemed an angel
from heaven menacing a fiend.
She needed no interpreter. Before her face and
voice, her accusing hand, Peschino's hardened ef
frontery failed ; his eyes fell to the ground, and, mut
tering unintelligibly, he slunk away.
It was not alone the mesmeric power of Madeline's
appeal that overmastered him. Incredible as it may
appear, he had what he called a conscience! .11 is
blood-stained hands were often clasped in prayer be
fore the image of the Virgin, and a tithe of his booty
was always scrupulously set apart for his brother,
the priest of the little church at Mikro-Maina.
Madeline's victory, however, was short-lived. It
modified not a whit the destiny of herself and her
friends. Its only fruit was the promise to the priest
at Mikro-Maina of a generous percentage of the
American plousios's fortune.
THE INQUISITION.
VII.
THE INQUISITION.
As the sun sank towards the horizon, the brigands
gathered together their effects and those of their
prisoners, and conveyed them through the narrow
pass in the cliff. The mules were tethered to the
tough stems of the mastic and of other shrubs which
grew sparsely around. The prisoners were then
filed through the pass. They found it at least a
hundred and fifty yards in length, and from two to
fifteen or twenty in width. The sides formed nearly
perpendicular walls of solid rock, varying from up
ward of two hundred and fifty feet at the entrance
to less than one-tenth of that height at the other ex
tremity. A rivulet coursed along its entire length,
breaking into numerous little cascades and pools, and
rendering the passage slow and difficult.
On emerging they saw a cluster of little huts, with
chimneys, glass windows, and other conveniences of
civilization, by no means an unwelcome sight. They
had supposed that they were already at the summit
of the mountain ; but now they saw still another as
cent stretching up before them, and terminating in a
long, impassable ridge. In the deep valley between
them and this ascent they naw a flock of sheep quiet
ly grazing.
83 A DEMIGOD.
Major Paul gazed around in hopeless wonder.
"This is a mountain fastness, indeed !" he exclaimed.
"No hope of a rescue here. We may as well resign
ourselves to our fate. Nature seems to have de
signed it expressly for such incarnate fiends as you
are !"
" What does he say, Tsdras ?" asked Peschino, ex-
ultingly.
" lie says, ' This is, indeed, a mountain fastness.
There is no hope of rescue. We must resign our
selves to our fate. Nature has designed it expressly
for your safety against your enemies. You have
chosen very judiciously.' "
"No starving here, you see," said the delighted
brigand, pointing to the herd and the rivulet. " Good
shelter, plenty of arms and ammunition, books, pens,
and paper, cards, chess — You play chess, your no
bility ?"
In spite of himself, the major's face broadened,
lie was passionately fond of the game.
"I see that you do; so do I. That will help to
kill a few clays."
"Till the other killing begins," muttered Griffin
to himself.
"Now," said Peschino, "come and see how you
like your quarters."
The cleanest and most comfortable cabin was al
lotted to Miss Wellington and Madeline; the next
best to Major Paul, Tstiras, and Griffin. They were
allowed the use of their own beds, on which they
slept soundly, notwithstanding the fatigues and ex-
THE INQUISITION. 83
citcments of the day, their present anxiety, and, al
most the worst of all, the boisterous hilarity of the
brigands, which lasted half the night.
At dawn they were aroused by loud explosions
close at hand.
" The soldiers ! the soldiers !" exclaimed Aunt
Eliza, springing out of bed, running to the door in
her robe de nuit, and throwing it wide open. A
couple of brigands happening to pass at that mo
ment, modestly turned their faces away, one of them
pointing to an invisible object in the horizon. In
spite of this delicate and highly respectful conduct,
however, the scandalized lady, forgetting that a
mountain hut was not u built upon honor," like her
mansion on Commonwealth Avenue, slammed the
door together with such violent indignation that it
fell from its hinges. The innocent but now wicked
ly-laughing objects of her wrath were constrained to
come and make the necessary repairs, the two fail-
tenants meanwhile hiding behind the high -posted
bedstead which had been provided as an especial
luxury for them. Every little while, for hours after
wards, Madeline shook with laughter at the recollec
tion of the embarrassing but comical incident.
The explosions which had caused the excitement
proved to be only the customary discharge of fire
arms after an expedition, preparatory to cleansing
and reloading them.
After a breakfast of toast, broiled lamb, and ex
cellent coffee, Peschino invited his "guests" to as
cend the cliff through which they had passed and
84 A DEMIGOD.
witness the glories of sunrise in the Taygetus. In
admiring the magnificent spectacle they almost for
got their troubles.
" Is there anything to report ?" Peschino asked of
the stalwart sentinel who stood on the apex of the
cliff.
" Nothing, Jcapitdn" replied the man, hesitatingly ;
"that is — nothing of importance."
"What does that mean, you dog?"
" I thought I saw something at early dawn, down
there," pointing to a narrow opening among the.
stunted trees below.
" What was it ?"
" I thought " — deprecatingly — " perhaps it might
be the—"
" Out with it, stupid !"
" The — the Antliropoda'nnon " (man-devil).
Peschino's swarthy face turned livid. " Listen !"
he said to the cowering sentinel. " If I ever hear
that fool's-word again, I will order the tongue that
dares to utter it torn out by the roots ! Do you hear
me?"
The fellow glanced shamefacedly at the strangers,
and muttered a sullen affirmative.
" These superstitious idiots," said Peschino, turn
ing to Tsaras, " have a child's terror of a certain be
ing that is said to haunt these regions. They think
lie is something more than mortal, bears a charmed
life, kills with a glance from his eye, and all that pre
posterous, cursed nonsense. But I'll cure them of it,
if I have to hang every man of them by his thumbs !"
THE INQUISITION. 80
"Have you ever seen this mysterious being f7
Tsuras asked, eagerly.
>% He is not a mysterious being," answered Pes-
cliino, with ineffable disgust. " He is nothing but a
man like you or me. It was only three years ago
that his father — just such another Anthropodaunon
—was caught and disposed of as he deserved. But
that's nothing to these numskulls ! Seen him ? Yes ;
and once I nearly captured him. O T/tee mou ! if
I had been one minute quicker! But never mind,
I'll track him to his den yet."
" Has he any other name than Antkropodaimoji ?"
"Of course he has — Hector Vyr."
" I knew it ! I knew it !" cried Tsiiras, in uncon
trollable delight. " I have heard of him before."
" Well, and what then ? Do you think he can help
you to cheat me out of the game you have brought
me? — How intently they are listening! Can they
understand a word of what we are saying?"
" No ; but they will expect me to translate it all
to them when we are alone/'
"Which you will, of course, do," significantly.
" I shall use dixci-ftioji. But remember, Peschino,
no bodily harm is to come to them, whatever else
happens."
"I haven't promised that yet. Why didn't you
make your bargain before you delivered me the
goods ?"
Let not Tsiiras hoodwink the innocent reader as
he has already partially succeeded in doing with the
brigand chief. His crafty brain has devised a scheme
86 A DEMIGOD.
which promises absolute safety to himself — perhaps
even more — and at least life to the unfortunate for
eigners whom his recklessness, not his treachery, has
betrayed.
"Let us talk of this at another time," he said,
uneasily. " My brain is not fertile enough to invent
a translation for so much emphasis. What of this
Hector Yyr?"
" Oh, he's a good fighter, that's all. lie's a sly dev
il, though, and shoots little steel arrows from a noise
less, smokeless rifle, instead of bullets; so it is hard
to see where lie hides himself. My fellows are urg
ing me to leave these snug quarters ; but I am go
ing to stay here, if for no other reason than to show
them how foolish is their terror. Perhaps I shall
catch him yet, who knows ?"
" Well, well !" interposed Major Paul, losing his
patience at last, "if you have finished your private
confab with this bloody cutthroat, Tsuras, perhaps you
will condescend to give us a little of your attention."
"Certainlec, Monsieur Paul. He was explaiiin to
me the little difficultee which he have with the sen
tinel. I shall tell him to you when it is your wishes.
It is all about the wond'ful Hector Yyr, Monsieur
Paul. Aah, you shall faind those stoaries which I
have tell to you is the truth."
" Oh, no doubt, no doubt," answered the major,
indifferently. In Madeline's heart, however, there
sprang up a sudden wild hope which even her sensi
ble, practical reasoning the next moment could not
entirely dispel.
THE INQUISITION. 87
Peschino now handed his field-glass to Major Paul,
directing his attention to a wide-open space appar
ently only a few rods distant. "Do you recognize
that place f he asked.
" The flume ?"
"Right. It is a kilometre off as the crow flies.
Any one coming to us must pass that point, and can
not escape the vigilant eye of our sentry. We should
have ample warning, therefore, to prepare for a de
fence, or, if we thought best, to withdraw to one of
our other retreats. We have others, your brilliancy,
nearly as good as this."
" What are those stones for ?" asked Miss Welling
ton, pointing to two rows of bowlders arranged with
such regularity as to indicate design.
" Let us go and look at them," anwered Peschino.
The bowlders were poised upon the very edges
of the fissure through which the captives had passed
the day before. Peschino asked Miss Wellington to
try her strength upon one of them. She did so, and
was astonished at the ease with which she sent it
crashing down the precipice.
" Imagine a file of soldiers trying to make their
way down there !" said Peschino, with a smile that
eent shudders of horror through his listeners.
In the course of the forenoon Major Paul and
Tstiras were summoned to the brigand chieftain's
"office" for a " business interview." Hitherto the
tension of the major's wrath had been so relieved by
frequent liftings of the escape- valve that he had al-
$8 A DEMIGOD.
most got to looking upon liimsclf as the "gncst" liis
captor called him. This summons, however, was like
pouring a can of turpentine upon a smouldering fire.
lie obeyed with set teeth, Hashing eye, and a tremen
dous boiling within.
At a rude table half covered with papers sat the
irresponsible mountain despot, supported by two of.
his swarthy satellites. lie motioned his prisoners to
seats, and immediately began a grandiloquent pane
gyric on his "profession." This finished, he pro
ceeded, with all the stateliness of a judicial magnate,
to the inquisition.
The major, when asked if he were willing to be
sworn, answered with an explosive
"NO!!"
" Yery well, then," smiled the inquisitor, " we
will dismiss you temporarily and summon the young
kurd."
This brought the father to terms.
When he had sullenly given his full name, resi
dence, and occupation, he was required to state tho
total value of his estate, real and personal.
" What reason have you for supposing that I shall
state it correctly ?"
" Because you are a gentleman, and are on your
oath," placidly replied the brigand-judge.
" Hear, then, the answer of a gentleman on his
oath. I solemnly swear to you, Peschino, that I do
not look upon you as entitled to the truth, even un
der oath ! I believe that I should be justified, in the
eyes of God and man, in using any means within my
THE INQUISITION. 89
power — even the commission of perjury — to thwart
your diabolical villain', and I should violate neither
my conscience nor my sense of honor in doing so!
With this understanding, do you still insist on my
giving you an inventory of my property f '
This was what Major Paul actually said; as ren
dered by Tsaras it became — •
" Hear the answer of a gentleman on his oath. * I
belong to a peculiar religious sect, Peschino, which,
among other progressive tenets, does not recognize
the sanctity of an oath. We look upon all swearing
as blasphemy, and, even if it were not so, I regret to
say that my financial affairs are in such an unsettled
state that I am utterly unable to give you the infor
mation you require. Under these circumstances, will
you l)e so unjust as to insist upon an impossibility C v
" That is not all he said," said Peschino, glaring
threateningly at poor Tsaras.
"It is xuhxtiintinlli/, upon my honor," protested
the interpreter, with convincing earnestness. " I have
omitted only certain angry exclamations that do not
essentially modify the ideas."
k> Why, then,'" said Peschino, continuing the exam
ination, "is your nobility here, wasting your time?
AVhy are you not at home arranging your aifairs C
" He ask," interpreted Tsaras, "' ' Why you put
youself into sooch a perilous situaation ? Why have
you not thwart his " diabolical villany " by staying at
home?'"
'• I Because I thought a citizen of a friendly power
could trust himself in a country that professed to be
90 A DEMIGOD.
civilized. I thought Greece was a civilized country,
sir. I didn't know it was a province of hell."
Translation : " ' I left my affairs in good hands, and
came away to recuperate my exhausted energies. I
trusted that Greece would welcome a citizen of a
friendly power as a guest, sir — I expected that you
would treat him as such.' "
" We are wasting time," said Peschino, losing pa
tience at last. " Once for all, will you make the es
timate, or shall 1 3"
"I decline to pronounce my own sentence. The
power is in your hands. I suppose you will do as
you please."
The brigand ground his teeth with rage for an in
stant ; but immediately controlling himself, he said,
calmly, "You are dismissed for the present. Zout-
zo, conduct him to his quarters, and bring the young
man."
Griffin was detained but a few minutes. It would
be futile to represent him as utterly unconcerned ;
he was mortal, and capable of suffering from finan
cial ruin or a worse fate, when it came, as sensibly as
others. But probably no one was ever less affected
by the mere anticipation of evil than he. For him,
amply sufficient unto the day was the evil thereof.
lie entered the dread presence with an air of gay in
difference extremely annoying to the brigand chief,
who at the same time felt it beneath his dignity to
betray his irritation.
" What do you know of your friend's circum
stances ?" was asked, after the usual preliminaries.
THE INQUISITION. 91
" Major Paul ha* enjoyed the reputation of being
one of the wealthiest merehants of Boston," was the
unexpected answer.
" Ah, that is good." Eagerly—" Go on."
" But, alas ! tlie war ruined him. The crash was
tremendous. His great fortune floated away from
him like the fragments of a shipwreck. He reserved
nothing, and even then could only pay twelve per
"A likely story, indeed! Why is he here, travel
ling with his family, like a prince of the blood ?"
t% You compel me, then, to reveal his disgrace?
The unfortunate but really innocent man is simply
hiding from his infuriated creditors."
" 0 Didltolos ! You think me an imbecile ! My
time is too precious to waste on such a rattle-pate.
If I did my duty I should wipe that shallow simper
off your face with fifty lashes. Take him away,
Zoutzo. I will see the elder of the women."
But he could make nothing of Miss "Wellington.
Ordinarily excitable, she had nerved herself up to
preternatural coolness for the ordeal before her. She
had thought better of her first resolution to be abso
lutely dumb, and had outlined a course of testimony
which subjected her tender conscience to little or no
strain. She was only a woman, she said, and could
not be expected to know anything of business. She
knew only that her brother-in-law had suffered losses
during the war. On her oath she knew nothing defi
nite of his financial condition.
"But you know his manner of living?"
93 A DEMIGOD.
"That is no criterion in America. Men often live
recklessly to conceal their real poverty."
" They must have resources to do even that."
" Oh, people trust as recklessly as they spend.
He may be living entirely on his credit, for all that I
know."
" For all that you know ? Do you believe he is
doing that ?"
" My belief can be of no value to you."
"Nevertheless, I desire to know your belief."
" I shall not answer you."
" I wish no better answer than that, kurdtza.
The young man says your brother's real poverty is
no secret."
" I don't know, I don't know. I have never asked,
and nobody has ever told me."
"What is to prevent my levying on his credit?"
" You would gain very little by doing so. Keck-
less as our people are, they know better than to trust
a man in his unhappy situation."
"Surely they will risk something to release him
from it 2"
"I am afraid not. They will sympathize deeply,
but when it comes to giving money they are like the
rest of the world."
" You are the lady that knows nothing of business.
How much would your brother and his friends be
willing to pay to release you all from captivity — per
haps worse 2"
" I cannot, and I will not answer."
"Four hundred thousand drachmas?"
THE INQUISITION. 93
Miss Wellingtdfi'fl lips shut tightly together.
^ 2^o/i r In/ nil ml tli<»tx<t)i<l /"
The lips closed still more tightly.
" IIo\v much do you think you can endure before
giving me an answer f
"All that you can inflict."
" I may put you to the test. This is sufficient for
the present, madame."
When Madeline's turn came she drew a deep
breath to quiet her furiously leaping heart, and came
before the brigand chief with outward composure.
The starry light in her brown eyes, however, and the
vivid Hush on her cheek betrayed her inward agita
tion, while they greatly enhanced her marvellous
beauty.
IVschino gazed upon her with undisguised admi
ration. He motioned his attendants to withdraw.
They scowled and muttered.
"I am the J\n]>!l<ii>. IVschino," fiercely growled
their chief. "You know both my honor and my
discipline. Don't you see, your savage' faces fright
en the lady { She will say nothing while you are
here. Leave me and this gentleman to deal with
her. Go !"
AVhen they had gone, a look of intelligence was
exchanged between the brigand chief and Tsaras
which did not escape Madeline.
"Is it possible?" she murmured, as she gazed at
the smooth-faced interpreter. Then a deathly faint-
ness came over her.
94 A DEMIGOD.
"Have no fears, beautiful lady," Peschino said, in
his softest tones; "I would cut my heart out rather
than harm you. It is of your father that I wish to
speak, and I do not wish those rough, greedy fellows
to hear the generous terms I am about to propose.
They have no sentiments of humanity in their breasts
• — they would never consent."
" Why do you not propose your terms to my fa
ther himself?" Madeline faltered.
" You must hear them first, kopclouda. You are
fond of adventure, of romance, are you not ? Yours
is a poetic soul ; it is thrilled with the spectacle of
heroic life among these glorious mountains. It is a
wild life, but not a hard one, believe me. It is full
of grand excitements, without discomforts that the
noble soul feels. We know nothing of poverty. Pes
chino is a king, kopelouda — a king that Georgias him
self is afraid of. His willing subjects populate a hun
dred villages, and pour their treasures into his lap."
" Oh, then," cried Madeline, her voice coming forth
in a flood of passionate entreaty, " if you are so rich
and powerful let us go ! Do not rob my poor father
to add to your riches, which are already so great."
Peschino interrupted her with a gracious wave of
his hand. " ]Sro, lovely girl ; your father shall not
lose a drachma. Peschino lias no need of his treas
ures. He is a king, with a kingly heart which is
not satisfied with riches and grandeur alone. It
craves something more — love. Oh, beautiful kurd,
be my queen."
Poor Madeline had known too well how his speech
THE INQUISITION. 95
would end ; but when the last words fell on her ears
she seemed turned to marble. Her lips were open,
but no sound came from them. Suddenly her arms
ilew up convulsively, and her voice returned to her
with a horrified, u Xever ! O, merciful Father in
heaven !"
The brigand's face flushed, then turned almost as
white as her own. lie uttered some words in a low,
harsh voice, which were not repeated to Madeline.
Then he said, with comparative calmness, ''I will
give you time to decide. Only one word more now.
If you love your father, you will breathe no word
of this matter. Say that you have been questioned
as the rest were — about your father's circumstances
— no more. In the mean time fear nothing from
this interview ; you, as well as the rest, shall be treat
ed as before."
An hour or two afterwards Major Paul was re
called. Without preface or ceremony he was in
formed that the ransom for himself and family had
been iixed at four hundred thousand drachmas — a
sum equal to about seventy thousand dollars. GrilHn
would be released on parole, and could be employed
as his agent. One month would be allowed for the
ransom to be collected and paid in. If it came safe
ly, and no trouble followed, either from his own gov
ernment or that of Greece, Major Paul and his party
would be immediately set at liberty, and escorted to
a place from which they could return to Athens in
pert'ect security.
The penahv of failure was death.
7
90 A DEMIGOD.
VIII.
THE "ANTIIROPODAIMON.'
U
Now seventy thousand dollars may seem insignifi
cant to yon, the " unearned increment " of whose
property on the Back Bay lias been more than that
amount within a year ; but to Major Paul it was ter
ribly large. Entre nous, Robert Griffin's testimony
was not so absurd as it sounded to himself as well as
to Peschino. It was true that while Major Paul had
been risking life and limb on the field, his wealth
had been rapidly diminishing at home. Not that his
absence at the seat of war had aught to do with its
diminution ; on the contrary, it was probably one of
the best things that could have happened both for
his bleeding country and for his bleeding pocket. It
was also true that he \vas now travelling with his
family, not, indeed, to " escape from his infuriated
creditors," but in obedience to the demands of his
much-enduring partners, who had pledged themselves
to redeem his fortunes if he would only consent to
the status of silent partner for one year. As will be
readily understood, the only possible way for him to
fulfil such a condition was to be where neither his
big voice could be heard nor his letters and telegrams
especially troublesome.
THE "ANTimOrODAiMON." 97
( JritHn, too, for reasons best known to himself, had
been willing to be supposed far more forehanded
than he actually was, and the fearful, naked truth
was that, as matters stood, it was next to impossible
for all the prisoners combined to raise the amount
required for their ransom, save through disinterested
benevolence — a forlorn resort, indeed !
But remonstrances, prayers, tears, threats to Pes-
chino were like rain, snow, and hail to Gibraltar.
(Iriffin set forth upon his well-nigh hopeless errand,
bearing letters from his three companions to Amer
ica, and another from Peschino to the Greek Gov
ernment insolently demanding a decree of pardon
and amnesty for life, with the most atrocious alter
nate
After (JriiliiTs departure the brigands seemed to
try in every possible way to make the remaining cap
tives forget their captivity. They allowed them to
wander almost at will on both sides of the pass, al
ways, however, within sight of a strong guard ; the
slightest show of rudeness to them was promptly and
.-eveivly punished ; the best of everything obtainable
was freely placed at their disposal ; and had it not
been for the dark, uncertain future, their life would
have been far from unpleasant. The first day or
two seemed an age. But terror, apprehension, indig
nation cannot last forever at extreme tension. What
ever might betide the captives, their consciences were
unscathed, and gradually health of mind and body,
sustained by the purest and most exhilarating of
mountain air, and by a never-ceasing chain of novel
98 A DEMIGOD.
experiences, brought back something like hope and
cheerfulness.
As no attempt was made to escape, the vigilance
of the brigands relaxed, and they made more persist
ent overtures towards comradeship. So far from
apprehending efforts on the part of the Hellenic
Government or of others to rescue the prisoners, they
manifested only contempt for the combined force of
all civilization against them. Even the superstitious
fear of the terrible Hector Yyr which prevailed
among the less intelligent of them, gradually died
out as no new rumors of his exploits came to their
ears. "Whatever precautions they might take for
their own safety when empty-handed, with such hos
tages as they held they felt perfectly secure. Every
two or three days one or more of their number went
to the neighboring villages, and on one occasion even
to Athens, for necessaries and luxuries for themselves
and their captives.
Incredible as it may appear, as time went on a
curious kind of familiarity grew up between Major
Paul and Peschino. True to his old habit, the major
had expended the vitality of his indignation in a
succession of terrific tirades, which at first had mad
dened the brigand chief, but afterwards only amused
him. Less and less was said of the anomalous " busi
ness " relation between them ; they played chess for
hours together ; they gave each other language les
sons until they could converse, after a fashion, in both
English and Greek ; they went hunting together,
and once, when a violent storm imprisoned them
THE "ANTHBOPODAIMON. 99
over-night in a cave, they kept each other warm by
Iving close together un their heel of thorn-hush, like
a pair of brother
Much to her relief, Madeline was not annoyed by
a direct renewal of Peschino's love advances. No
rejected suitor in civilized life could have maintained
a more delicate or self-respecting reserve. lie seem
ed bent on disarming her repugnance and winning
her gratitude by intruding himself upon her as little
as possible, at the same time that he displayed a
never-ceasing solicitude for her comfort and pleasure.
I>ut she, of all the party, remained the most implaca
ble. Pescliino's artful policy was the more horrible
to her from its very subtlety. She witnessed the in
creasing communicativeness, if not friendliness, be
tween her companions and the robbers, as she per
sistently styled them, with growing abhorrence.
Whatever may have been her feelings towards her
cousin, she now looked for his return as that of a
delivering angel.
At last he came, bringing with him an agent of the
Greek Government. A conference of several hours
was held at headquarters.
The letters which (Jriilin brought characterized
the ransom demanded as utterly beyond the bounds
of reason or possibility. After a stormy discussion
IVschino consented to reduce it to three hundred
thousand drachmas (about lifty thousand dollars) — a
sum which, Major Paul declared, was equally out of
* An actual occurrence.
100 A DEMIGOD.
the question ; but not a drachma less would Peschino
take — it must be that or death.
One of the letters, from a zealous young debtor of
the major's, occasioned a gloomy sort of amusement,
if such a thing were possible, among the prisoners.
It threatened the vengeance of the whole American
nation. A squadron of iron-clads would invest the
peninsula, an army corps would scour the mountains
and pursue the villains through Turkey to the deserts
of Arabia, but they would avenge every drop of blood
and reclaim every dollar of ransom with terrible in
terest — a great satisfaction to ears forever deaf to the
thunder of iron-clads, and to eyes forever blind to
the glitter of gold!
The negotiations with his Majesty's Government
were, if possible, still more unsatisfactory. While,
for the sake of the unfortunate captives, citizens of
a powerful nation with whom the Hellenic Govern
ment was anxious to remain at peace, a most humili
ating concession would be made, to wit : that neither
the Kapitdn Peschino nor his command would be mo
lested on account of their present offence, provided
the prisoners were set at liberty on reasonable terms
— it was out of the power of the Government to grant
pardon and an amnesty for life. By so doing they
would bring down upon themselves the execration
and hostility of the civilized world. It was believed
that on reflection the Kapitdn Peschino would rec
ognize the unreasonableness of his demand, and sub
stitute one that could be entertained.
But while the insignificant little tyrant was will-
THE "ANTHROPODAIMON." 101
ing to make some concession to his prisoners, for
whom he professed a strong personal regard, with
his government he was scornfully inexorable. From
his inaccessible mountain throne lie issued a still
more insolent and defiant decree, and the conference
broke np.
Efforts were still to be made in America to raise
the reduced sum demanded by Peschino, and as the
time of grace was growing short, the result of the
efforts was to be announced by the Atlantic cable.
But the prisoners no longer indulged hope. From
the moment the brigand chief declared his •ultima
tum. Major Paul looked upon himself and his com
panions as doomed. All comradeship with his ene
mies was forthwith dropped, and he sank into the
gloom of despair. " Oh, my daughter !" he groaned,
as his massive iron-gray head fell upon her shoulder,
and his arms wound around her neck — "my great,
grown -up, handsome daughter! Oh, my girl, my
baby ! If it were only I, but J/<?</< Hue ! Oh, what
shall I do, what shall I do /"
"Don't cry, papa," sobbed Madeline, her own tears
moistening his hair. "Thank Heaven I am with
you ! I'm not afraid, papa. I feel in my soul that
we shall be saved. I have prayed to God, and I
know he will not let them harm us. There, there,
papa darling, don't cry so. I know the robbers will
be satisfied ; they will accept what we can give, rath
er than lose everything and have our blood upon
their souls."
" Oh, you poor little kitten ! you do not under-
102 A DEMIGOD.
stand. The devils have their rules ; they will not
allow such a precedent. They believe I can pay the
full ransom, and they will carry out their threats as
a warning to future captives — contamination seize
the poisonous cusses !"
" But the full ransom will be paid, if it must.
Our friends will not let us die here for the sake
of—"
"Who will pay it, my child? — who will pay it?
Jobling & Ilotchkiss wouldn't advance me ten thou
sand dollars beyond my credit to save us all from
fire and brimstone. But that is not all ; there's an
other demand which leaves no hope — not a red cent's
worth of hope; may the black dragon scorch, roast,
fry, \>YQ\\,fricasee their filthy giblets to cinders!"
"Then," said Madeline, her tears suddenly ceas
ing and her face turning to marble, " we will meet
our fate bravely — we will go hand-in-hand to mother"
Thus the heroic girl tried to sustain her despairing
father, who but for her would have been as brave as
he had been on many a bloody field.
All at once his face lighted up. His own despair
ing question, "Who will pay it?" had suggested a
thought which promised salvation, at least to his idol
ized daughter. If she could be persuaded that, by
her superior tact and the pathos of a beautiful wom
an's appeal, she could best raise the ransom-money,
she could not refuse to go back to America instead
of Griffin. The prospect of her success would easily
gain Peschino's consent. Then, she once safely out
of their hands, the brigands might do their worst.
THE "ANTUROPODAIMON. 103
1'erhaps Miss Wellington might ho allowed to go,
too, to hasten matters — who knew? AVith a torrent
of eager argument and entreaty he told her of the
plan. She listened in silence, and when he had fin
ished she replied, in a low, calm voice,
"If they will let me, and if Robert and Aunt
Eliza think as you do, I will go."
" That's my own good girl !" he cried, catching
her in his arms.
" But, father, don't misunderstand me. Whether
I succeed or not, I sJudl come fh «•/>-. "
"Great Polyphemus! \\-]is\t for ? Isn't it better
that three should perish thant/fow/M
" Dear papa, think for one moment. I should be
on my parole, shouldn't I ? — just as Robert was."
"Hell ?" he asked, staring stupidly at her.
" Didn't Robert come back ( Wouldn't you ?"
" I ? — but — but — you are a woman, you know."
"And therefore have no Junior. No, no, papa;
that will not do. If Robert should consent to such
an act, what would you think of him? what would
you say of him C
" I hit," he faltered, piteously, "you are going, you
know, because you can do so much better than he
can; you can persuade them, you know, while he
couldn't. That's reason enough, isn't it?"
" It's a reason, perhaps, why I should go and try,
but not why I shouldn't come back."
'• Madeline," he said, bravely, but with the hope
gone from his face, " you heroine, you plucky little
tiger, you are r'njJit .r'
104 A DEMIGOD.
An hour later the four prisoners were seated on
the flat rock on the outer side of the pass, talking
over the plan which the major had proposed, and
talcing what comfort they could from it. A guard
of four brigands were lying at full length on the
grassless ground near them, while the sentinel on the
cliff was lazily sitting a la Turk, his mind probably
as little occupied with his duties as was his body.
Within the pass Peschino, with several brigands, was
in the valley, exhibiting his herds to the Government
agent. The residue of his force were scattered here
and there about camp, some with their muskets in
pieces to be polished and oiled. If a government
force could have surprised the guard at this time,
they might have effected a rescue and capture with
out the least difficulty. Tstiras, who, since the exam
ination of Madeline, had studiously avoided his fel
low-prisoners, was swinging in a hammock within a
clump of trees.
It was a perfect day ; but the beautiful smile of
Nature was to the prisoners a smile of bitter irony.
The celestial blue seemed serenely taunting them
with their dismal plight ; the brooklets giggled glee
fully at their misery ; the careless abandon of the
guard — kindly enough designed, no doubt — was an
insult to their helplessness which stung the major to
one of his sudden outbursts.
" See the lazy, basking reptiles ! They'd spring
up quick enough if Peschino should show himself.
Perdition seize their insolence ! don't they know the
difference between a field-officer and a scrubby little
THE "ANTHROPODAIMON. 105
captain without a commission, except what the devil
lias given him! I wish I had my sword for three
mini.
"I wish you had, papa," said his daughter, mourn-
fully.
••/y prod the filthy camp scullions ! I — I'd make
'em stand in the position of the soldier, if I had to
roast for it !"
"I wish you had not only your sword but the
whole — th regiment at your back !" added Madeline,
with gleaming e_\
".I//-/--/1 -/• .'" The major's growl was like that of
a mammoth terrier in the act of shaking the life out
of a rat. It even attracted the attention of one of the
victims of the imaginary charge, who opened one eye
in sleepy wonder, and immediately closed it again.
'•Oh!" cried "Madeline, clasping her hands, while
her bosom swelled with the agony of her prayer,
"why will not just and merciful Heaven send a le
gion of angels to deliver us!"
" Don't call on Heaven/' Griffin broke in, fiercely.
His gay light -heartedncss had at last failed him.
"Heaven smiles only on robbers and murderer.-!
Heaven delights in martyrs ! The smoke of their
torment arises as sweet incense to the pearly gates !"
"Hush!" said Madeline, terrified at his bitter
blasphemy, "or we shall deserve our fate!''
"Come, "Robert," added her father, with unwonted
solemnity, " this is no time for such talk as that. No
sailor swears when his ship is sinking. You'd better
be paying your prayers, man."
100 A DEMIGOD.
A little while after tins the party were startled l>y
a wild shriek from the sentinel on the cliff, who,
springing to his feet, fired his musket, and went hop
ping away on one leg. This aroused the guard of
four, who frantically seized their pieces and aimed
them down the path with shouts of "Antliropodai-
mon ! Antliropodaimon /"
Looking in the direction in which the muskets
were pointed, the prisoners saw a figure with bare
head, shoulders, arms, and legs, darting from side to
side with prodigious agility, at the same time that it
advanced rapidly towards them.
The four brigands discharged their muskets almost
simultaneously, and the next moment were frantically
scrambling towards the pass, within which they disap
peared with loud cries of terror, the last one barely
escaping the grasp of the stranger. The latter, whose
pursuit had been like that of a tiger leaping upon its
prey, now turned towards the party at the rock, and
burst into a long, loud peal of laughter. lie held his
sides, and bent forward and back like a huge rollick
ing school-boy. The deep, round, clear ha! ha! ha!
rang out, echoing and re-echoing until all the majes
tic mountains around seemed to have lapsed into a
Titanic frolic.
The captives forgot their captivity and their ap
parent sudden release in stupefied amazement. They
could only gaze with open mouths and wide eyes -at
the marvellous spectacle.
In a few seconds the stranger's mirth ceased as ab
ruptly as it had begun. He bounded towards the
THE "ANTHROPODAfMON." 107
rescued party before they could collect their senses,
and hustled them without ceremony into the path,
down which they found themselves the next moment
running with might and main. Miss Wellington's
pace not satisfying him, he caught her in his arms
as if she were an infant, and ran on with undimin-
ished speed, urging the rest before him with cries of
" Greyor ' '. <jrl<j»r*i /" ( I lurry ! hurry !)
His haste and solicitude were none too great. The
half-dozen brigands within call ran yelling to the top
of the cliff, and their bullets came zippiny viciously
down the hill. No one of the fugitives was struck,
however, and presently they were hidden from their
enemies by the rocks and foliage.
They had descended perhaps a quarter of a mile
down the path when the rescuer shouted "Alt/"
They stopped running, and pantingly awaited fur
ther orders. They were motioned into a by-path
leading into a thicket, where they were brought to a
halt. To their increased astonishment and delight,
their mysterious deliverer now addressed them in
English, scarcely marred by an alien accent.
" They will soon rally their force and pursue after
us. I shall shoot one, two, three — the rest shall re
treat away."
A- he said this in a peculiarly deep, resonant
voice, he unslung a brass tube about a yard in length,
which turned out to be a spring-gun of enormous
power. Pressing down the spring with little appar
ent effort, he raised his hand to his shoulder, drew
one from a great number of slender, feathered steel
108 A DEMIGOD.
shafts, and dropped it into the bore. Then aiming
at the tough, thick stem of a stunted tree at a con
siderable distance, he released the spring. There was
a sharp zip, like that of a rifle-ball.
" Go and see," he said to Major Paul.
The tree had been pierced through ; the shaft had
passed beyond, and was not to be found.
"My televodon kills silently," the marksman said,
in his wonderful, thrilling voice, " and it makes no
smoking. They have no opportune to return my
shoot. They cannot endure, and they soon retreat
away, like it is from a malaria invisible, irresistible."
He had scarcely finished speaking when the report
of a musket was heard. Aunt Eliza uttered a sup
pressed shriek. Madeline turned pale.
" Hide in these bush ; be perfectly quiet," ordered
the stranger, sternly. "I will soon return. The
womans shall make no screams."
"Let us go with you," urged Major Paul, speak
ing for himself and Griffin.
"No. You have not arms. You shall only be
obstacle. You shall draw their guns to me like to
yourself."
" But if anything happened to you we could—
" Have I not said NO ?"
Before they could recover from the paralyzing ef
fect of the word, the speaker had noiselessly disap
peared in the thicket towards the pass.
" I'm going to follow him," said Griffin, recklessly.
" Come along, uncle."
"No, sir! Always obey orders from a superior,
THE "ANTHRQPODAIMON." 109
especially in active service. It's hard, I know, devil
ish hard, but we can't help it. Stay where you are."
They lay, as it seemed, for hours, listening with
strained ears to every sound. At length there came
the report of a musket — another — a volley. Then
they heard loud voices, among which they thought
they recognized that of Peschino. The noises grad
ually receded until they became inaudible.
" Well, I'll be consigned !" ejaculated the major,
"if he hasn't driven the whole darned crowd into
their old school-house again !"
" God bless him ! God bless him !" cried Made
line, fervently, and the rest as fervently echoed the
benediction — not excepting Griffin, whose eyes the
next moment met those of Madeline fixed upon him
with a look of pity mingled with awe.
"Pray" she said, in a scarcely audible voice —
" pray for the forgiveness of the Heaven you so
wickedly slandered — the Heaven that heard the
prayer instead of the blasphemy !"
His eyes fell, and a dark ilush covered his face.
"Madeline," said the major.
She turned to him.
" I heard what you two were saying just before—
He paused and looked up into the sky with a dazed
expression. "Strange, wasn't it? You don't really
believe that — that —
" That God heard my prayer and answered it ?
Yes, papa, I <Jo. How can any of us be so ungrate
ful as to doubt it ? How can we </<(/•• .'"
" It was a remarkable coincidence — wonderful. It
HO A DEMIGOD.
does seem as if — - I have heard of such things happen
ing; but then, after all, there's nothing so very mys
terious in a mere coincidence. 1 can't really believe
that—"
"Oh, papa!" she entreated, "don't say it. Who
knows but there may be another coincidence ?"
Her words struck him with a sudden awe. " "Well,"
he said, presently, " I confess I shouldn't have the
hardihood to say what Robert said."
At this moment their champion appeared boldly
walking down the path. It is impossible to convey an
adequate idea of the free, springing elasticity of his
stride. It was as if he were the proud, unquestioned
monarch of the mountains. As he came nearer, their
attention was attracted to another and a very differ
ent matter — his left arm was bound with a ligature,
and was covered with blood.
" Oh, sir, your arm !" cried Madeline, running to
meet him ; but her swift step was suddenly checked
by his impatient answer :
" Make not fuss, young woman ! It is a random
gun. No bodies have saw me. It is in the flesh
only, and the ball have gone out. You shall put a
more better band on the arm."
All eagerly pressed forward with offers of assist
ance, tearing their handkerchiefs into strips. As
Madeline readjusted the ligature and tenderly wiped
away the blood, she was struck with admiration at
the magnificently formed limb. While she is deftly
performing her grateful office, let us look leisurely
at her patient.
THE RETREAT. Ill
IX.
THE RETEEAT.
THE prevailing impression the stranger makes is
that of supreme virile power, an abounding vitality
•that pervades the whole man like an inward fire. A
mighty soul looks out from large, dark eyes clear
and luminous as those of a child. He is nearly sev
en feet in height, but formed with such symmetry
that he seems tall only because he is standing beside
others. Then, indeed, he seems colossal. His head
is the ideal Caucasian ovoid, thickly covered with
short, crisp brown curls. His massive shoulders,
deep chest, and powerful limbs tell of ability for
mighty achievement, while bright intellectual vigor,
such as in all its freshness accompanies only the har
monious play of all the functions, is manifest in his
countenance. In short, with a somewhat less pro
nounced muscular development, he would present in
form and feature a model such as Phidias might have
chosen for a Hermes. His dress consists of a sleeve
less jacket, low in. the neck and curiously embroid
ered, fustanelli of linen reaching only to the knee,
and stout shoes of goat-skin. From a narrow leath
ern waist-belt is suspended a richly mounted dagger,
while two cross-belts of the same material and width
sustain the brazen spring-gun and the quiver of steel
shafts which have served so good a purpose.
113 A DEMIGOD.
"Be quick, Madeline," said her father. "We
must get away from here, or those wolves will be
after us again."
"No," said the champion; "they will dare not to
come if they shall not see us in the path. They are
too afraid for the silent bullet which comes from the
wind. We shall stay here a little more time."
" You are English peoples ?" he asked, presently.
" No, your excellency," replied the major, with the«
greatest possible deference ; " we are Americans."
" It is no difference. But you must not say to me
' your excellence.' I am not excellence."
" I beg your pardon. I won't again."
"Pardon! Why-fore? Have you commit some
crimes ?"
" No, your— Excuse me, I — "
" Excuse you ! What do you mean ? I do not
understand."
" I mean, I ask your pardon for my mistake."
"Why-fore shall I pardon you for you make mis
take ? Is it some wickedness 2"
The major colored up and began to flounder again,
when Madeline came to his relief. " It is a custom
with us," she said, with a smile, " to ask pardon for
an innocent mistake as if it were a real offence."
He turned his great, inquiring eyes upon her.
" Then what shall you say when you do the real of
fence ? Shall you ask the pardon then, too ?"
" Of course. There is all the more occasion for it
then."
" But that what you say — it is no different ?"
TilE RETREAT. 113
" Oli, wo say it with a great deal more feeling —
more earnestness, you know."
'• Why-fore do you say I know? I do not know
until you shall tell me."
At this they all indulged in a tenderly good-nat
ured, highly respectful laugh. "We use a good
many forms in our speech," Madeline explained,
" which have no real meaning, but which serve to
smooth and round out our sentences."
" I understand him now. How long time have
you been at captivity ?"
"Twenty -seven days," answered Major Paul,
promptly.
"It is a long time. It was tcllcd to me this morn
ing. I came to you so quickly as I could come."
" You came in good time," replied Madeline, with
deep feeling, and her father added,
" Heaven must have sent you, indeed, as my daugh
ter says! 1 .-lioiild be a cursed Judas to doubt it."
"Our poor thanks," continued Madeline, k> are so
utterly inadequate, that, indeed, we are almost
ashamed to offer them. But we can at least pray
God to shower his richest blessings on you."
" Allow me to say, general," put in the major,
his face growing red and his breath coming noisily,
" that you have done alone, and almost unarmed, what
that infernal villain boasted the whole Greek Gov
ernment couldn't do. You are a wonderful man,
your excel — 13eg pardon, sir. There isn't your equal
in the world — no, sir, not by a thousand per cent. !
You can be no other than the famous personage of
114 A DEMIGOD.
whom sucli wonderful stories are told. I beg your
pard — Excuse me, I didn't 'mean — but — but isn't
your name Yyr — Hector Yyr?"
The stranger smiled, displaying two rows of teeth,
even, strong, and white as those of a savage.
" My name is Hector Yyr," he answered. " Your
name is Mr. Fowl ?"
" Paul, sir ; not Fowl. The young lady who is
dressing your arm is my .daughter, Miss Madeline
Paul ; this lady is my sister-in-law, Miss Eliza Well
ington ; this young gentleman is my nephew, Mr.
Robert L. Griffin ; and we are all your grateful serv
ants for life, Mr. Yyr."
" There," said Madeline, with a sigh of satisfaction,
" that is the best I can do for your arm until we can
find some water. I hope I did not hurt you very
much, Mr. Yyr?"
" You did hurt me very much, Miss Paul ; but I
did know you could not prevent it. I did not think
of the pain. I give to you thanks for your helps to
me."
" Oh," she cried, " I beg you not to speak of such
a trifle. If there were only something a thousand
times greater we could do for you, we should all be
so glad to do it! Is there not something more we
can do, Mr. Yyr?"
The amazing reply was :
"Let me to see your tectlis"
As soon as her friends had finished staring at one
another, and she was sure she had heard aright, she
uttered an embarrassed " Certainly," and at once ex-
THE IlETREAT. 115
hibited two sets of pearl as perfect as his own, though
on a very different scale.
"It is good," he said, as if to himself; "yet I
thinks you do eat the confection and drink the hot
teas and the coffees, like to your other peoples."
"Are you a — a dentist?" asked Aunt Eliza, tim
idly.
'• What is 'dentist,' Miss Wellington ? Ah, I know
that what it is : dens, dentis. Do you mean teeth-
doctor 2"
Aunt Eliza bowed assent.
"Not more than I am all kinds of doctors. I
think I am that what you can name health-monoma
niac. My father was one of those, and his father,
and his father — and away behind for great many of
generation. I asked Miss Paul that she shall show
to me her teeths, because she is so perfect in all oth
er thing that I was inquisitive how she shall endure
the test so delicate." Turning to Madeline. "I
think you do breathe the bacteria in the cities, and
the dirt of the carpet, and you do dance all the nights
in the gas-lights like everybodies C
k' Indeed," rejoined .Madeline, trying to cover her
confusion by laughing, " I am not nearly so dissi
pated as you think me, Mr. Vyr. Have I not lived
a very sensible life, papa :"
" Oh yes ; of course, of course — some of the time."
" Oh, you tr<tditore! Well, at all events I've had
little enough chance for dissipation lately. I've
breathed nothing but mountain air, and haven't even
seen a gas-light for a month at least."
116 A DEMIGOD.
Vyr electrified the party again by turning abrupt
ly to her father with, " Your daughter is the most
beautifulest young woman I have ever saw."
Poor Madeline blushed to the very roots of her
hair, Miss Wellington uttered an astounded "Why !"
Eobert Griffin's lower jaw dropped, and the major
coughed an embarrassed, " Il'm, li'm — thank you, sir
— a very great honor, I'm sure."
"Honor?" echoed Vyr, glancing curiously at each
face in turn. " ~No. Why-fore is it honor ? She
did not make herself to be beautiful like to the paint
ed actress ; she should not feel shame and be red be
cause I say truth ; she should say, ' Yes, I am beau
tiful like to the anemone, I am happy like to the
singing-bird, I am bright like to the sparkling cas
cade, I am well and strong like to the young chamois
— yet, not like to all those, I am educate and culti
vate like to the pale, ill lady of the cities ;' and she
should fall down on her knees, and pray to the Great
One who gives all those good things, and say to him,
' I am only a little, little flower, infinitely below those
majestic mountains, those vast blue skies, those mul
titude of glorious stars — yet my little heart is full
with thank and adorations because for my beautiful-
ness and my sweet fragrance, and it is compassionate
for those peoples which are weak and ill and ugly.' "
That Hector Vyr has already made progress in the
use of English, even in the short time we have known
him, cannot, of course, have escaped our notice. It
appears less, however, in his words than in his im
proved modulation and diminished hesitancy. The
THE RETUEAT. 117
last long speech was delivered with scarcely a break,
and with perfect self-possession. lie seemed utterly
unconscious of having expressed any but the most
conventional of commonplaces. lie quickly saw,
however, the awkward constraint he had produced
among his auditors, and went on, with the evident
intention of restoring them to equanimity :
" You are not accustomed to words like those ?
You say truth of all things except yourselves and
those peoples to which you speak ? If I say truth of
you, it is the flattery ? if I say truth of myself, it is
the vanity ? Is it so as 1 say i" addressing Madeline.
"It is apt to be so regarded," she replied, fast re
gaining her self-poise.
" But why-fore 'C ' he persisted, earnestly. " That
mountain, is he not lofty and grand i and do I not
say it? It is not flattery to the mountain. Do you
not know you are beautiful, Miss Paul f
The poor girl, suffused again with blushes, looked
appealingly from him to her friends.
" \Vc know it, if she doesn't!" Griffin answered for
her. There was a certain metallic ring in his voice,
and a hard, enduring look in his face, as he spoke.
"And Miss Paul knows it — she does not dare to
say no. So it is not the flattery, which is only lies.
Is not the vanity lies, too '. — lies to himself? You
know, for instance, that I am strong and brave, do
not you '"
" We have had the most ample evidence of that,"
answered Madeline, with alacrity.
"Then, if I, too, know it, why-fore shall I not say
118 A DEMIGOD.
it? It would he boasts, it would be pomposity,
egotism — would it ?"
"An ordinary person might, perhaps, be open to
those charges," said Madeline, her features now re
laxing into an amused smile.
'• I5ut Mr. Vyr is not an ordinary person,'' inter
posed Miss Wellington, with decision. " I am sure
it would he perfectly proper for him to say all this
of himself, and much more, too, if he chose."
" Well, I should say so !" assented the major, with
an emphatic blow of his open hand on his knee.
No one could say that Vyr frowned at this broad
compliment. What right had he to express displeas
ure ? Had he not himself been still more outspoken?
Had he not invited the free expression of their in
most thoughts by his own example ? There was not
the slightest perceptible knitting of his brows; he
did not assume a sudden air of offended dignity ; his
head was not a hairVbreadth more erect than before.
He simply looked at the speakers an instant without
replying. Nevertheless, Miss Wellington could not
have blushed more painfully if she had unwittingly
offended a monarch on his throne. Vyr perceived
her uncalled for embarrassment, and immediately a
gracious smile broke out over his face.
" I suppose I must grow red at Miss Wellington's
words," he said, " like Madeline. Ah, you are of
fended, Miss Paul, because I speak your own name ;
your beautiful upward smile of amusement is change
to a downward smile of proud ness ; you lift up your
head like to a queen. Why-fore ? I have broke the
THE KETREAT. 119
law of etiquette \ AVell, all the laws have penalties.
Js it so aa i say '."
no one vouchsafed a ready answer, he went on :
" You will punish me — you will say to me, 'Mr.Vyr,
you have done to us a service, and for that we give
to you great thanks, and we will also do you a service
when we can ; hut you are a great savage, and we
must not associate.' "
" Thunder of great waters, no !" blurted out the
major. i% AVe are not such ungrateful fools as that,
I hope. Call her or any of the rest of us what you
please. Madeline, why don't you speak?"
"Indeed, papa, I— We are all under too great ob
ligations to Mr.Vyr to take offence at any little un-
conventionalities he may indulge in. He meant no
offence, I am sure, and I am not so silly as to take
offence."
"You make a mistake, Miss Paul; I <Ii<1 mean
offence."
Another general stare.
"Not great offence, my friends. J have heard
that in the civilixed country it is more worse to
break the law of etiquette than to break the law of
the Government, and so I have make the little ex
periment. 1 wish to know if you will forget the
.ice which I have render to you because I am
rude a little. I wish to get to myself knowledge of
different kind of peoples. I respect the young wom
an and her friends, and i make to them honorable
apology because I speak her real name, and because I
say she is beautiful. Have I done that what is right ?"
120 A DEMIGOD.
Madeline walked bravely up to bim and extended
her hand. "Please say no more about it, Mr. Vyr.
You make us feel very insignificant. If it will give
you amusement or information to try experiments
upon us, I am sure we ought to submit with thank
fulness that it is in our power to afford you any grat
ification whatever."
lie took her firm little hand with evident pleas
ure. An indescribable sensation of vital warmth
shot up her arm to her heart like an electric shock.
"No, Miss Paul," he returned. "You shall tdl
to me that what I wish to know of the custom and
feeling in the polite society."
" Perhaps we can tell you something of the cus
toms" she rejoined, with an " upward smile." " As
to feelings, the more polite the society the less we
know on that subject."
" And is it true that it is more worse to be igno
rant of the polite customs than it is to commit some
crimes ? If it is true, Hector Vyr must be a terrible
criminal in London and Boston. Would he be hang
from his neck ?"
"Rather a dangerous thing to try — that would
be!" said Major Paul. "No, sir. You would be the
greatest lion that over condescended to favor those
cities with his presence."
" Ah, put in the strong cage and exhibit with the
tigers and the bears. It would be very good. I am
a wild man of the mountains ; I have never gone to
the cities except two times to Athens."
"How, then, did you learn to speak English so
THE RETREAT. 12j
well ?" asked Griffin, who had been remarkably reti
cent for him.
" My mother is an English lady, and a good many
years ago she talked to me in her own language."
"Is she living now :"*
" Yes, I thank God that she is living; but we have
not talked English for long, long time. She loves
my father's language better. But we have English
books and magazine which I read. And last vear I
saved three captivated Englishmen from the klcphts,
like you, and they lived with ns in our house three
weeks. You will all come to my house, too, and
stay a long time. Yon will teach me more English,
and tell mo such things that my books and papers
do not say.'*
Major Paul accepted the invitation with the warm
est thanks, but could not think of remaining more
than a day or two at the longest.
"I'ut have you not said that you would do all
what you could for me?" asked Yyr, with a look of
surprise. " You are not hastened ; you have not
great businesses to do; you arc making a travel of
observation and pleasure. I offer you much observa
tion, and — is it egotism. Miss Paul? — I think I can
oiler you much pleasure also."
"There is no doubt of that, sir," replied the ma
jor. "It would ill become us to decline an invita
tion so generously and cordially given, especially by
one whom we are so anxious to please."
••Why-fore did not you say that before?" Vyr
asked, with simple frankness. " Did you think I did
122 A DEMIGOD.
not wish that you should stay a long time at my
house ?"
" I — I — " The great, clear, questioning eyes threw
the major into a kind of stage fright. lie turned
appealingly to his daughter ; but before she could
speak, Aunt Eliza volunteered the explanation :
"My brother was afraid we should trespass too
long upon your hospitality."
"Then why-fore did you think I asked you? Ah,
I understand, it was one of the forms of your speech
that Miss Paul tolled me to 'smooth and round out
your sentences.' " lie smiled again. " I am afraid
that I shall not know when you say that what you
mean."
"We must be very careful," said Madeline, "and
be entirely frank when we are speaking to Mr. Vyr."
" Oh, I shall learn in a little time more. You shall
be patient and teach me."
" Well," said Major Paul, rallying, " we will visit
you as long as you want us to, I guess. And I hope
that we may have an opportunity to reciprocate the
favor in our own country."
" Yes, indeed !" added his daughter ; " that is no
mere 'form of speech,' I assure you. Papa and I,
and all of us, mean exactly what he says."
Hector Vyr shook his head. " I must not do that.
I seldom go far away from my own house. I like a
few guests — not many of them, and not many times
— but I wish not that I shall be the object of ob
servation. I tell to you now, like as I tell to my
other guests, that I have made the oath, like to my
THE HETHEAT. 120
father, and like to Ms father, to avoid all notori
eties."
" You wish to know others, without being known
yourself," said Madeline. "Do you think that is
(juite/'///', Mr. Vyr f '
"Fair?"
"Do you think it is quite just to others?"
" Ah, just. No, Miss Paul ; it is unjustice. It is
like to the detective which hides himself and looks
very .slyly through the little holes in the walls. But
the world has no necessity for Hector Vyr, although
he has great necessity for the world. It is infinity
for me to see and know in the mountains, the trees,
the birds, the beasts, the little insects, the rocks, and
the uncnltivate peoples which live here with me ;
but I wish to know every things. It is only a few
sides of me which grow here ; I wish that all sides
of my heart and my intellects shall grow. I wish
not to tie up one little finger-joint in my body or
my heart or my intellects."
Here Griffin once more broke his moody silence :
"I shohld think the best way to accomplish your
purpose would be to go over the world and see for
yourself."
The formidable eyes rested for a moment on the
young man before the answer came: "Do you not
understand ? Have not I tolled you ? Why-fore do
not you listen, if you shall talk too ? Shall 1 be ego
tist, and say that peoples will not let me to be in
peace ? They will run to look at me, like as I am a
big hippopotamus; they will importune to make me
124 A DEMIGOD.
to be generals and councillors and lecturers. I have
swore not to be those things, and I like not so great
troubles."
" But," said Madeline, " have you never considered
how much good you might be the means of doing in
the world ? Don't you think you ought to give your
fellow-men the benefit of your abilities ?"
She and her friends eagerly listened for his answer.
" It is not good for me to talk to you ; you do not
listen to me. Forgive me — I am not gentle. I am
not accustom to talk to peoples which live in the civ
ilized country. But you shall teach me to be gentle.
I have said to you that the world has not the neces
sity for Hector Yyr. They have too much already
— too much generals, too much councillors, too much
talkers, too much writers of books and magazine —
too much to see, to hear, to read, to eat — too much
everything. Why-fore shall they wish more of those
things ? No, my friends, men should not wish more
outside, but more inside ; not more to see, but better
eyes ; not more to hear, but better ears ; not more to
read, but better brains ; not more to eat, but better
bodies."
"Ah, Mr. Yyr," replied Madeline, "I fear you do
not know the world very well yet. There are count
less thousands who sadly need more to cat"
" The world is better, the race of men is better,
that the feeble shall not eat."
This inhuman sentiment was received with uncon
cealed disapprobation.
" I am a monster," Vcrc continued, smiling. " I
THE RETREAT. 125
have not a heart. Well, Xature is herself a monster,
too. She lias not a heart ; she permits all the little,
weak, sick lions to starve for million years, until it is
none but great, mighty lions ; and if greater, mighti
er men do not kill them, the world would be full
with great, mighty lions. To-day is not all the time,
Miss Paul. I have heart for the million thousand
men which will live million years hereafter, and I
like them not to be the posterity from wreak little
peoples which must be fed like to the babies. I have
heart for the wrhole race of men, in all the time, not
only to-day. So I say to yon, it is more better for
mankind that those peoples which are not strong and
skilful to get meat for themselves shall not eat."
"You forget that it is not the feeble only who
suffer destitution," replied Madeline, her heart throb
bing with mingled indignation and apprehension at
the consciousness of having actually entered into an
argument with him. u Many are unfortunate through
no fault or deficiency of their own."
" Xature do not turn away from her great laws
because of every little exceptions, Miss Paul," he an
swered, smiling indulgently.
" But you are not Nature, Mr. Yyr. You have a
will of your own, which Xature has not."
" Do not you think that lie which has made Nat
ure, and which governs Xature, has a will of His
own ? Do you think that He wishes that the feeble
and the undevelop shall be perpetuate to the future?"
" I — suppose nut. lint — but — I have no doubt it is
His will that we — you as well as the rest, Mr. Yyr —
126 A DEMIGOD.
to whom He has given wills of our own, should do
everything in our power to help the weak and the
unfortunate, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked — •"
" Yes, yes, Miss Paul,'' burst in Hector Vyr, " your
heart is noble like as your face is beautiful ! / wish,
too, to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked which
come in my path, because my Jieart has pity for them.
I wish to rescue the unfortunate in every place which
I find them, if it is my power."
This with a gentle significance impossible to mis
understand.
" Yes, indeed," Madeline replied, with sudiVn re
vulsion of feeling, " your acts have shown that you
have a heart, in spite of what you say, Mr. Vyr."
" I have my mission, I think, like everybodies ; but
I think it is not that I shall go through the world to
keep alive all the weak peoples which I can find,
that they can transmit their feeble bodies and intel
lects to future generation."
" Madeline ! Madeline !" ejaculated the major,
" what are you talking about ? Isn't it mission
enough to stand guard over these mountain devils?
Talk about keeping folks alive! Sun, moon, and
stars ! hasn't he kept us alive ?"
"You speak too much of that what I have done,
Mr. Paul," said Vyr, with the slightest possible shade
of annoyance. " The young woman asks me why-fore
I do not go out over the world and do some great
things which she thinks I can do. I say to her that
men do not have necessity to see great things ; they
see too much already. It is necessity that there shall
THE VYUS AT HOME. 137
be a more perfect race of men, not that there shall
be more great tilings to make them open wide their
eves and their mouths/'
" Well," said Griffin, "may I ask, Mr. Vyr, how
you propose to bring it about 2"
" I cannot bring it about, Mr. Griffin ; but every
one can make himself better and stronger if he shall
choose, and that can help the generations which shall
come."
This was the reply in words ; but the magnificent
figure drawn up to its full height, dwarfing the rest
by comparison, the glorious countenance serene with
conscious superiority, were a far more forcible and
a sufficient answer.
"Now," said Vyr, a little later, " I know that the
klephts are no more watching at us. They think
that we have gone away. You shall creep through
those bush. Go not near to the path till I shall tell.
I will come after you behind."
X.
THE VYUS AT IIoMK.
TWILIGHT was just beginning to soften the nearer
outlines of the landscape and to sharpen those more
distant, when the rescued party and their rescuer
came to a dee]), wide chasm cutting directly across
their path — one of the very pits, perhaps, into which
0
128 A DEMIGOD.
the old Spartans used to throw their criminals. Be
yond arose a forest-covered mountain of very irregular
outline.
"We have come near to my house, now," said
Hector Vyr. " You can see it up there. It gleams
whitely among the trees."
" But how in the world are we to get there ?" asked
Madeline, as she gazed shrinkingly into the fearful
abyss.
" It will be very easy, Miss Paul," replied Vyr,
" when I shall make my bridge across." He seized
the long, branchless trunk of a fallen tree with his
right hand, and holding down one end with his foot,
raised it to a perpendicular, and allowed it to fall
across the chasm. Then, after trying it to see that
it did not roll, he said, " Now I will carry one across,
and then I will come back and carry another. I
could carry two at one time if my arm is not sore.
Who shall go at the first ?"
As no one responded, he walked over alone and
returned, with as much apparent unconcern as if he
were crossing London Bridge. " You see how that
it is easy and safe. Will you go across alone by
yourselves ? It is no toll to pay."
Griffin walked about half-way across, often stop
ping to make sure of his balance, when, happening
to glance downward, his head gave way, and he was
obliged to finish the transit on all fours.
"Now, then, Eliza," said the major, "it's your
turn next."
"Oh, I can't. I shall be dashed in pieces. I
THE VYES AT HOME. 129
wouldn't trust myself on that log for a thousand
worlds."
" Shall I carry you ?" asked Vyr, persuasively.
" Indeed I haven't the courage, Mr. Vyr. I'm
afraid I should not only sacrifice my own life but
yours also."
"1 am not afraid, Miss Wellington. It is no dan
ger if you shall keep yourself still on my arm."
After much more persuasion she consented, and
was safely deposited on the other side, notwithstand
ing her feeble little clutches and small shrieks.
Madeline proposed to try to walk over if Mr. Yyr
would go first, giving her his hand ; but on being as
sured that such a method would involve the almost
certain destruction of both, she followed Aunt Eliza's
example. With closed eyes and suspended breath,
seated on his powerful arm, her own clasped around
his neck, she felt as if she were riding over in an
iron chair.
Major Paul went last, hitching along astride, and
helping himself with his hands, to the great merri
ment of the spectators.
"Now" said Vyr, as he pulled in his natural draw
bridge, u all you are //>// prisoner!" His manner was
that of menacing triumph.
They looked at one another with curiously different
expressions on their faces. Miss Wellington's was
pallid with alarm ; Griffin set his teeth and scowled ;
the major lifted his brows and whistled; Madeline
smiled in placid fearlessness.
"A faithful sentinel sees ns now from yonder
130 A DEMIGOD.
thicket," continued Yyr. "My command is to him
that he shall fire when one tries to go across without
my permission."
Still Madeline only smiled.
Yyr looked upon her and upon the rest with keen
scrutiny. Then his face softened, and in a tone of
tender reproach he said, "Miss Paul lias not fear.
She trusts the wild man which has saved her from
the klepht. Cannot you have trust, too ? Do you
so easily lose your faith in Hector Yyr because he
plays a little with you, like a boy ? Is a voice and
a look from the eyes a greater thing to you than a
deed ? Is it a greater thing to you than this blood ?"
lifting his wounded arm.
For a moment there was a distressed silence. Then
the major stepped boldly forward. " General," he
said, "you must not be too hard on us. We haven't
said anything, have we ? You told us we were your
prisoners, and that you had a sentinel posted with
his gun cocked ready to fire on us. How did you
expect us to take that from a man who had never
condescended to joke with us before, especially after
the experience we've had ? Yet we never yipped.
Excuse me, but you mustn't see too much in a ' look
from the eyes,' either."
With undisturbed serenity Yyr replied, "It is
right, what you have said, Mr. Paul. It was not
generosity when I try to frighten you a little — it was
not a just trial for your faith. You shall forgive
me 2"
The major seized his hand with delighted ardor.
THE VYRS AT HOME. 131
" Say no more about it, genera^ say no more about
it. We're all glad that we've had the chance to ex
cuse something, even a trifling mistake like that."
"But it was not all a mistake,- my friends," re
joined Vyr. " It was good, too, that you shall be a
little frightened, because I show to you how that you
are safe from your enemies. They do not know the
path to my home, if no friend shall be traitor ; but
even if they shall find the path, they cannot come
over this great gulf but one at a time, and my senti
nel shrill shoot them, and he shall call me and my
followers to the defence."
"That's a fact!" the major exclaimed heartily.
"It's a better stronghold than their own. You
couldn't have taken a more effectual way than you
did to impress us with its strength. And you may
be sure of one thing, general, you can't scare us
again, whatever you may say."
Vyr smiled. " Miss Paul was not scare ?" he said,
looking at her with pleased inquiry.
"Not in the least."
" I thank you from my whole heart." The look
and tone with which he spoke thrilled her.
" You all shall be perfectly at your liberty," he
went on. " You shall be my guests so long time as
you shall have pleasure. Then, when you shall com
mand me, I will carry you again over the little bridge
— or you shall creep over it," laughingly to the major
and Griffin ; " or perhaps it is better that my servants
shall bring down the great bridge which I keep un
der my house, and which they place over when the
132 A DEMIGOD.
great marble stones and tables and divans must be
carried across. You shall walk over on that, and I
will lead you to Mikro-Maina, or even to Sparta, if it
is your wishes."
While this talk had been going on, they had as
cended a breakneck, stony path, and now, turning a
sharp bend, they came into full sight of a white mar
ble tower similar to those they had seen a month be
fore, save that it was much taller. It surmounted an
irregular building of large size, also of marble, at one
side of which was a veranda with four Doric col
umns. Several enormous gables projected from the
three visible sides of the building, consisting chiefly
of long windows in slender casements of iron. On
the veranda were rustic chairs, and a hammock which,
Yyr informed his guests, was one of his favorite beds.
Madeline asked if he always slept in the open air.
He replied that he did not ; he was not a rock, but
rather a sort of hibernating animal. In the winter
he went inside of his cave like other bears. And
sucked his paws ? Oh no ; he made his paws work
hard in the summer, so in the winter they rested.
The major inquired if he and his friends were to
sleep in the open air, like their host. Yes, if they
preferred ; or they might sleep inside the house,
and breathe their own breath over and over a^ain as
o
many times as they liked. His guests always did ex
actly as they wished. They might eat and drink and
smoJce all the civilized poisons he could obtain for
them. They might even turn the night into day and
the day into night, as they had the reputation of do-
THE VYKS AT HOME. 133
•
ing at tlicir own homes. They could not make noise
enough to disturb either his mother's rest or his own.
Rubbing his hands with anticipation, the major de
clared him the prince of hosts ; he and Griffin had
had nothing to smoke for a month but the brigand's
nasty nargiles.
As they approached the steps leading to the ve
randa, a handsome white face, crowned with abun
dant gray hair, appeared at the window, and the next
moment its owner, a tall, finely-formed woman, clad
in a gray jacket embroidered with silver, and a black
petticoat, stood curiously watching them from the
entrance. Vyr ran up the steps, and throwing his
unwounded arm around her matronly figure, he im
printed a hearty kiss upon each cheek. She received
his embrace impassively, as the Americans thought,
her only response being to place her hand on his
bandaged arm and look inquiringly in his face. lie
spoke a few short sentences in Greek, turned, and
bade his companions come up and be introduced to
his mother.
" They are English peoples, m<tnn<(k<i " (dear mam
ma), he said, eagerly; u/:'//y//Vi, do you not under
stand ?"
" Oh, they are English, are they ?" she replied, with
something like interest ; for her eyes, which had sur
veyed them with stony apathy, or at most an idle cu
riosity, grew a few degrees brighter. ""Well, I am
sure I am very glad to see them/'
" I suppose we are the same as English to you,
ma'am," said the major, with a low bow, "as we are
134 A DEMIGOD.
•
to your son ; but we arc really Americans, from Bos
ton, Massachusetts."
" Oh, than~k yon," replied the poor woman, with a
blank smile. " It is a very pleasant evening, is it
not ?" Then suddenly she sprang forward, crying
angrily, " Americans, are you ? And what have you
been doing to my boy ?"
Vyr went to her and gently led her to a seat.
" They did not do it — some peoples have shot me a
little; but—"
" The klephts /" she almost shrieked, her pale face
distorted with terror; " 0 Thee mou!"
"It is nothing, nothing," he answered, soothing
ly, kissing her again. " Do not you see that 1 am
safe and well? Is not my step firm? is not my
cheek red? is not my voice loud? These peoples
have been very kind to me, and you must be very
kind to them again. Miss Paul was a little doctor
to me ; she has bound my arm, and she has watered
it when we have come to the little brooks. It will
soon be strong again, like to the other."
" But we were the cause" exclaimed Madeline,
pressing forward in her eagerness. " Oh, madam,
when you know how much we owe to your son —
how brave, how heroic he has been—
"Yes," interrupted her father, impetuously step
ping before her; " we have a great story to tell you,
Mrs. Vyr — a most astonishing story of your son's —
" You must not tell it now," interposed Vyr, au
thoritatively ; "you must wait until my mother is
more calmer. She is not well. — You must not tell
THE VYRS AT HOME. 135
it to her at any time. — I will tell it to you to-mor
row, manndkd. Xow we shall go in, and we shall
show to our guests how that we live in these wild
mountains."
Madame Vyr tried to speak, but her son prevented
her with another kiss and a playful remark, and tak
ing her hand, he led her unresistingly to the open
door. As they were entering he said, in a low voice,
to the major, " I will explain it all to you when we
shall be alone together."
With a natural dignity and grace that the most
hospitable nobleman might have envied,. he conducted
his guests through the different apartments of his
unique dwelling. These were in strange contrast to
their wild environments; they might have been the
home of a wealthy gentleman of eccentric tastes in
the heart of a populous city. The walls and ceilings
were panelled and painted in Pompeian style with
old gold and dead colors and with elaborate friezes.
Heavy carved chairs, couches, and tables of Western
manufacture, and Oriental rugs and divans, statues,
and other ornaments of bronze or marble, paintings,
engravings, chandeliers and candelabra, articles of
vertu from every clime and of every age, books and
musical instruments, scattered about without the
slightest regard to general effect, all betokened a
luxuriant if uneducated taste. It must be under
stood that the craze for furnishings and decorations
of this sort had not then spread over the civilized
world, as it has since ; so the four Americans be
held in silent amazement the discordant amalgama-
130 A DEMIGOD.
tion of art, ancient and modern, barbaric and Euro
pean.
Their host smiled again and again at their looks
of wonder and doubtful admiration as they proceeded
from room to room. At length he said,
" Your tongues are paralyze, but your faces speak
enough. You do not wonder only, but you are crit
ics. You say you do not love the tout ensemble — it
is very bad — it is not harmony — it is vinegar upon
nitre — it is not order, it is chaos. Now, my friends,
listen to me. I do not have care for the tout ensem
ble '., it will be good for one only look ; but I and my
mother, we live here all the time; we have more
than one only look. We enjoy each thing here by
itself, like as we enjoy each book and magazine in
our library, without its relations and its harmonies
with the other books. The English gentleman and
the American gentleman furnishes and adorns his
house that he shall please his friends and his visitors.
If he shall make mistakes, it is ignorance, and he
feels the shame. My father, he furnished and adorn
ed this house that he may please himself, and my
mother she was please, too, because he was please.
I have done the same like as my father did. Ho
lived in the mountains ; he did not expect guests — it
was accident that he received them, like as it is acci
dent now that we receive you ; it was not that he
shall please others, but that he shall satisfy himself
and my mother. To him beauty was beauty ; it was
no difference between old and new things ; his ances
tors were of many nations ; he was not Greek, not
THE VYRS AT HOME. 137
Roman, not English, not Turk ; to him there was not
Europe, not Asia, not America, not Africa. My moth
er she loves everything's which my father loved, and
so I do. For us all beautiful things are harmony,
both those wild things which no man sees except our
selves and the other peoples of these mountains, and
also the exquisite things which the artist makes in
Paris."
Madeline took advantage of the pause which now
occurred to say, "Indeed, Mr. Vyr, you have misin
terpreted our wondering looks altogether. It is such
a delightful surprise to tind here so many beautiful
things which we usually see only where men are
thickly congregated together, and where they are
impelled by ambition — love of approbation — to sur
round themselves with costly adornments/'
" That they shall make other men to envy them
and to hate them, is it f asked Vyr, smiling.
"Oh no, not always, I hope, it is not impossible
that they may like to confer pleasure upon their
friends and visitors. You, it seems, are impelled by
love of beauty, pure and simple."
"Yes, Miss Paul; I love all beauty with a great
passion. My eyes are almost till with tears when I
look upon the sweet anemones on the sides of the
hills, and my heart it thrills when I behold the beau
tiful face or the beautiful form of a man, a woman,
or a child. It is a passion which God has create, like
as he has create the sharp desire for food and for wa
ter. The undevelop man only is dead to beauty, like
as the dyspeptic man has not the hunger. I enjoy
138 A DEMIGOD.
to show to you these things which I love ; but not to
please you they were brought here ; they would be
here if no peoples in the world shall see them except
my mother and myself."
He ushered them into a bedroom on the second
floor, extending outward from the main building like
a huge bay-window. Three sides were almost entire
ly of glass panels, which could be pushed down in
grooves out of sight, leaving a wide, open balcony.
Mosquito nettings then took the place of the glazing.
" You asked me if I always sleep in the open air,"
said Yyr. " I tolled you, when it is winter I come
in my cave like to the other bears. This is my cave.
I shut it up close, except one little window, and the
bright sun shines in all around me and makes me to
be warm. In the summer, when it is too much flies
and gnats to sleep in the hammock at the veranda, I
sleep out-of-door here."
"I suppose," said Major Paul, "you make it a point
never to breathe anything but the purest of air, day
or night, summer or winter."
" If I can breathe pure air, is it not foolishness to
breathe that what is not pure ?" Yyr returned, as if
what he asked were the most obvious thing in the
world. " You and your friends may sleep in rooms
the same like this, if it is your wishes ; but you can
shut them up close, too, if it is your wishes."
Adjoining the bedroom was a commodious bath
room, into which water was conducted by a pipe
from a mountain spring.
" I think you should not enjoy to plunge into my
THE VYKS AT HOME. 139
frigidariwm in winter, when you must break tlie
ice," said Yyr.
"Ugh!" shuddered Aunt Eliza and Madeline to
gether.
"I assure you," said Griffin, " we should be able to
deny ourselves the luxury without repining."
" It is luxury," rejoined Yyr. " The water is so
cold as I love only when it is cover over with the
ice. Then it makes me to feel red and warm when
I come out, and I am light in my feet and in my
heart. In the summer it is not so luxury.
"!N"ow we shall go up in the tower, and you shall
see the beautiful things of nature, which belong to
you, like as they belong to me and my mother. I
wish that you shall see them sleeping in the moon
light ; then to-morrow you shall see them awake in
the sunlight."
Madame Yyr had scarcely spoken since they left
the veranda. Nevertheless she had shown unmis
takable signs of satisfaction at the frequent exclama
tions of pleasure and surprise in which the Ameri
cans indulged. She declined to climb the winding
stairs with them, saying abruptly that she must go
down and order supper.
"My mother thinks you are hungry for that what
is more nutriment than the mountains and the val
leys," said her son, as they began the ascent.
The last glimmer of the short Grecian twilight
had disappeared, but the full moon shining into the
narrow windows of the tower sufficiently lighted
their way. The darkness above and below, the hoi-
140 A DEMIGOD.
low reverberation of tlieir voices in the cylinder of the
tower, the strange events that had preceded, the con
sciousness of their isolation from their fellow-men,
in the midst of a mountainous wilderness, and more
than all else, the character of their mysterious guide,
filled Madeline with a sense of romantic awe that al
most made her shudder. "What if he were a Mer
cury," she thought, " sent to transport us to Olym
pus!"
On reaching the summit of the tower they beheld
another of the glorious views seen only among the
Morean mountains. Snowy peaks arose against the
star-dotted sky, like giant billows crested with gleam
ing silver, while the black troughs of the valleys sank
into immeasurable depths between. Here and there
naked slopes reflecting the full moonlight seemed
like vast spirit-forms rising from amid the waves.
Far beyond lay the smooth, dark pavement of the
JEgean.
After gazing a while in silence, Major Paul began
pointing out the peaks and islands whose names he
had learned, and asked the names of others.
" Oh, papa !" protested Madeline, " let us not mind
their names. They seem to dwindle both in magni
tude and number when we can name and count them."
"I think the same like you, Miss Paul," said Yyr.
-'It is like when we know the names and the num
ber of the stars in the heaven — they are no more a
great multitude, but they are a catalogue."
" I like to feel," Madeline rejoined, " when I look
upon a scene like this, as if I had alighted upon some
THE VYRS AT HOME. 141
unknown planet. I can imagine myself wondering
where in the wide universe I am, what sort of inhab
itants I am about to meet, and what strange things
lie beyond the horizon."
" I can give you the desired information," put in
Robert Griffin, lapsing into his old habit for almost
the first time since the rescue. " You arc upon the
earth, which is round like an apple or an orange, ex
cept that it is flattened a little at the poles. Out in
that direction lies a little village known among tho
natives as Boston, Massachusetts."
Hector Vyr looked at the speaker as if wondering
whether he were a lunatic or a fool. " Why-fore do
you say that ?" he asked, gravely. " Do you think
she does not know f '
" Don't mind him, Mr. Vyr," answered Madeline,
feeling as never before the unspeakable smallness of
the conventional jest. "lie is only trying to be jo
cose."
Yyr nodded his head, smiled pityingly, and said,
" It is sometimes my own amusement, when I am
alone, to lie here and let my soul to fly up into tlio
sky. I can sec the little earth below me, and myself
a speck upon it, occupied with things which are
smaller than myself. Then I say, 'AVhat is it mat
ter if I am greater or smaller than the other men,
because we are all so little? It is like to the little
worm which is longer than other worms at the
breadth of a hair, or perhaps he is shorter.' I am
glad, Miss Paul, because your imagination loves to
play, too !"
143 A DEMIGOD.
" Oil yes, Mr. Vyr, you will find ns fully as poetic
as yourself," said Aunt Eliza, who had conceived a
sudden small pique, for some reason or other ; wheth
er because so little of the talk had been thus far ad
dressed to her, or because she thought her nephew
had been somewhat ungraciously suppressed, I can
not tell. " Like all other Orientals, I suppose you
thought we Americans cared for nothing but dollars
and jokes."
Although she said this laughingly, she was con
scious of greater l>rusquerie than she had intended,
and she shrank in confusion from the mild, penetrat
ing look with which, even in the obscure light, she
saw Yyr was studying her. They had all, in turn,
shrunk from that look, innocent and mild as it was.
" Miss Wellington," he replied, " I have heard that
your peoples have not imagination ; but I have read
much of your books of poetry, and I find in them
sometimes very great imagination. They hear voices
to speak in the winds and in the waves, and they tell
the words which those voices say to them, which is
the same like the old divinities of the Greeks. They
feel the souls that live in the mountains and in the
rivers — the mountain frowns angrily, the river thinks
silently upon his own deep secrets, and the brook
laughs with his shallow joy. But I find, too, much
that what seems to me to be disease, like the fe
ver, or like peoples with nerves and brains but no
belly."
This made the Americans laugh. It was an op
portunity which Griffin could not forego. Placing
JEALOUSY. 143
liis hands upon the part last mentioned, ho said, with
a comical grimace,
" We are not that kind of people, Mr.Yyr."
The host was pleased with this sally.
" Forgive," he said ; " I am starving yon. We
shall go down now."
XL
JEALOUSY.
THE dining-room into which they were now in
troduced was one of the most ornate apartments of
the house. An Ionic door-way opened into it; the
floor was inlaid with Doric marble and other stones
of different colors, forming one huge figure of kalei
doscopic symmetry within a wide Greek border ; a
dado and a frieze with human and animal figures in
bass-relief harmonized admirably with the floor and
with the panel-work of the walls and ceiling; in the
corners were volutes relieved by gilding; here and
there in niches were statuettes of marble and bronze ;
an elaborate bronze chandelier, with lamps of ancient
pattern, hung directly over the centre of the dining-
table, on which was spread an array of edibles in
whimsical contrast with the vessels containing them.
Hulled eggs in cups of delicate silver filigree, coarse
but good bread on trays of rare porcelain, coffee of
burnt barley in a richly embossed silver urn, sweet,
fresh milk, and an abundance of fruit in vessels of
similar pattern, constituted the meal.
10
144 A DEMIGOD,
"Sit, my friends," said the host, with the voice
and gesture of a gracious king, "and give honor to
me and to my mother by breaking our bread. You
will not be feast like as you are feast at your own
homes; but you have lived a month in the mount
ains, and you will enjoy our simple eating, perhaps,
more better than you have enjoyed the richer feast
before."
Protesting that there could be nothing better, Ma
jor Paul set his companions the example by accept
ing the invitation with an alacrity more creditable to
his appetite than to his courtliness.
Hector Yyr drank nothing, but ate heartily, with
vigorous, animal relish, of the coarse bread and of
the fruits. Griffin inquired, with an apology for his
inquisitiveness, but with a sidelong glance at Made
line, whether Yyr's system of dieting excluded all
the delicacies of art.
"I do not think that I use a 'system of dieting,' "
was the reply. " I do not think much of that what
I eat. I take that what I like. I do not like meat
much. I like the oranges and the figs and the ap
ples best of all the other. What is 'delicacies of
art?' Is it spices and confections? Those things
are not to me delicacies. I do not like those, like
as a horse does not like them. I think I am good
deal like to a horse," he added, with his inimitable
wholesome smile.
"Do you — ' began Aunt Eliza. Then, abashed
at her thoughtless presumption, she stopped abruptly,
and her eyes fell.
JEALOUSY. 145
" "Wliy-forc do you not go on ?" asked Yyr, gra
ciously. " I like that you shall ask me questions of
myself. I have told some things to you, and it is
right they make you inquisitive of more."
"Thank you. I was going to ask if you never
drank at your meals," she said.
" I do not know. I never think if I do or if I do
not. I drink always when I feel the thirst. I do
not think that I am thirst when I am eating. You
think I am like to a feeble old woman which is dys
peptic ?" — with another smile — " that I shall always
think of that what I eat and drink?"
" We did not know," returned Aunt Eliza. " You
said something about being a ' health-monomaniac,'
and we supposed that — "
" Ah yes, Miss Wellington. I said that to you.
But I think my health shall be better if I eat that
what I like. I think my belly— Why-fore do you
laugh, Mr. Griffin? Have I said wrong, manndka?"
'• You should say stomach, Hector, not belly," an
swered Madame Yyr.
" I shall learn to speak English in a few days more,
if you will talk to me. Those three Englishmen
which I saved from the klephts did not talk much.
They said to me that they were afraid at me. I have
tried that you shall not be afraid. Have I not suc
ceed ? I do not scare you, do I ?"
"No, indeed, Mr. Yyr," answered Madeline, to
whom his question was more directly addressed. "I
assure you that your kind, genial treatment has
placed us all entirely at our ease."
146 A DEMIGOD.
" I am very glad at what yon say. I did not wish
that those other should be afraid ; but I have learned
a little lesson. I will say now what I wished to say :
I think that my stomach knows better what is right
that I shall eat than my head knows it."
" I suppose that is very well for a perfectly healthy
stomach, as yours must be," said the major ; " but it
would be a very unsafe rule for people in general to
follow. And I suppose your guide determines the
quantity as well as the quality of what you shall eat."
" I eat so long as I have hunger ; then I stop. I
enjoy great pleasure while I have hunger, and when
I have not, then I do not like. You think I am an
animal ? Yes ; if I am a poet on my tower and in
the fields and on the mountains, I am a great animal
at my table."
After supper, Vyr invited the two gentlemen to
return to the veranda, promising them what he sup
posed would be a great treat to them. When they
were comfortably seated in the brilliant moonlight,
a servant appeared with a little vase containing half
a dozen cigars. "Now," said the entertainer, "you
shall be happy, like as you would be if you are at
Boston. You may sit here and poison yourselves,
and I will look upon the sacrifice."
" Ah," sighed the major, with unutterable satisfac
tion, as he took one of the little brown rolls ; " this
alone was wanting to complete our bliss."
" I have been longing for Boston, or at least Ath
ens," chimed in Griffin, " with all due respect and
gratitude for your princely hospitality, Mr. Vyr;
JEALOUSY. 147
but now I am perfectly content. I don't care for
Boston, or Athens, or the whole civilized world."
"You are all alike the same," replied Vyr, survey
ing them with curiosity. "The three Englishmen
said almost those words when my servant returned
which I sent to buy for them those cigars."
" But arc you not going to join us ?" the major
asked.
"No, Mr. Paul. For what reason shall I smoke
tobacco? Does it give satisfaction to hunger or to
thirst ? does it give health to the body or to the in
tellects ?"
"I thought you didn't trouble yourself to think
whether a thing is good for the health or not," said
Griffin, rolling out with intense enjoyment a volume
of smoke, milky white in the moonlight.
"/ may not trouble, but my stomach troubles," re
plied Vyr, laughing.
"Smoking would give you a great pleasure that
you know nothing of," said the major.
"My life is already full with pleasures. I have
no necessity for another, that I shall pay for it with
a part of myself."
" I cannot see how it could possibly harm so strong
a man as you are," said Griffin.
"Not harm? Yt'.-s a little. The general which
lias an army of thousand hundred soldiers must not
sacrifice one soldier without the necessity. A miser
which has thousand hundreds of gold and silver does
not throw away one little drachma if he can prevent.
Hector Vyr is a miser. He has swore that he shall
148 A DEMIGOD.
not throw away one little atom from his manhood of
his body or his mind. If my father chinked whiskey,
or smoked tobacco, or liurted himself in any little
thing, he would hurt me too. When your English
and American strong men shall fight for the prize,
they do not drink whiskey, they do not lie lazy in
their bed, they do not smoke tobacco. They ' train]
as you say it. I train always, all my life. When
the great artist shall make a statue from marble, you
say it will not harm much if he shall make one little
wrong cut with the chisel. Ah, it shall hurt. I am
an artist — my statue is Hector "Vyr."
"You have indeed reduced self-culture to a fine
art," remarked Griffin.
" Yes, Mr. Griffin. Your father shall give you a
noble horse. You are very full of thanks, and you
take very great care. You do not wish that your
gift shall be liurted in any little thing. God he gave
to me this body. I am very full of thanks, because
I think it is a very precious gift ; and I cultivate it
and I develop it to the best perfection which I can.
God he also gave me a mind and a heart. I receive
those with very much greater thanks, and I am very
much more careful."
" Then," said Griffin, " in spite of what you have
said, I can't understand why your thoughts are not
always on what is good and what is not good for you,
and I should think you would defeat your own ob
ject by such excessive care. We think the very way
to be ailing is to be always on our guard against ail
ments."
JEALOUSY. 149
Vyr laughed in his characteristic way. " Yon
cannot understand how that it is my habit. I do not
think about my habit. You do not always think, 'I
must not cut myself with a knife, I must not shoot
myself with a gun, I must not drink the poisonous
cup, I must not sleep out-of-door in the snow.' You
avoid all those things without think ; the same like
that I avoid all the little things that hurt without
much think. I suppose it is the instinct in me, like
as it is in the wild animal — the chamois, docs he
smoke tobacco or drink whiskey ?"
" Well," rejoined Griffin, throwing himself back
luxuriously in his chair, " you are, at least, very
kind and hospitable to give us cigars to poison our
selves with."
" I am your host, not your master," retorted Vyr,
without offence, but with an unconscious dignity
that brought his two auditors up erect, and made
them for the moment forget their pleasurable indul
gence. " You are my guests, not my children. You
ask me for cigars; that is your foolishness. I give
them to you ; that is my hospitality. I say to you,
' They arc not good, they will poison you ;' that is
my friendship. You smoke them ; that is your lib
erty. You are not slaves, except of yourselves. I
can set you free from the klephts, but you must set
yourselves free from yourselves."
When they had finished and thrown away their
cigars, he said, " My friends, it is very late for me,
and I am full of sleep. I shall go to my bed now,
when I have said to the womans Kale nykta"
150 A DEMIGOD.
The apartments assigned to the guests consisted of
a capacious drawing-room opening into two sleeping-
rooms that jutted out from the main building like the
one they had already seen. All were luxuriously
fitted up in European style ; for which, the host in
formed them, they were indebted to the wishes of
his mother.
"Here," he said, "you can think that you are in
Boston ; and you can dance till the sun shall shine
again, if it is your wishes."
" Thank you," said Madeline ; " but we don't dance
all the time, even in Boston. For myself, I am tired
enough to go to bed at once."
" Tired !" exclaimed Vyr. " I did not think that
you can be tired, with that cheek like the rose and
that bright eye."
" Indeed I am, and very often. You must remem
ber we are not children of nature, like yourself. I
suppose you haven't the least idea what the word
'tired' means."
" I do not think I know perfectly. I do not re
member that I was ever tired. Is it a pain ? an ache,
like that I feel in this arm ?"
" Oh," cried Madeline, " forgive me for my neg
lect. You have made so little of your wound, and
I have been so dazed with the strangeness of every
thing, that, to tell the truth, I almost forgot it. Will
you not have it dressed again before you retire ?"
" I give you thanks, Miss Paul. I have a faithful
servant which is a very good doctor of wounds, and
he will do for me what it is necessary. Then I shall
JEALOUSY. 151
Is it ' tired ' to bo full of sleep ? If it is that,
1 love to be tired — it is a sense full of delightness.
K<ilc mjlda, my friends. I wish that your sleep
shall be like the baby on the bosom of his mother."
His good wishes were heartily returned, and he
withdrew.
The moment the door closed, Madeline rushed into
her father's arms.
" Thank God, my child !" he cried, gathering her
to his broad breast. "Yes, thank God for answering
your prayer I'1
"And our brave, noble, godlike deliverer!" she
murmured, as her long- restrained tears of joy and
gratitude poured forth.
Griffin uttered no word, but he walked to the win
dow and scowled fiercely at the moon.
"But what a singular — what a very extraordinary
person Mr. Vyr is !" exclaimed Aunt Eliza, after the
mutual congratulations and rejoicings had somewhat
abated.
" Extraordinary ? well, I should say so," answered
the major. " Constellations of the zodiac ! lie is a
prodigy — a miracle. I never even imagined such a
character. It is a combination of the freshness of
a child, the strength of a giant, and the wisdom of a
sage."
" What strange eyes he has," said Madeline, mus
ingly ; ''and what shining, satiny skin — for all the
world like a huge, strapping baby."
J A DEMIGOD.
"I've seen that matched more than once," said
Griffin. "You never saw John Hcenan 'peel;' I
have. His skin was as rosy and glossy as your demi
god's."
"No," replied Madeline; "I've not been in the
habit of frequenting the prize-ring."
" Well, you needn't annihilate me with your scorn.
I've never been there but twice in my life, and that
was when I was a sophomore. I didn't go alone,
either, I want you to understand ; some of the best
fellows in collee went with me."
" Yes, best — such men as Harry Le Court, for in
stance, and Tom Richmond. You wouldn't curl your
pretty lip at them, I fancy. Oh, well, you may sniff
and sneer as much as you please; I've seen your
poetic soul in raptures over the statue of some old
Greek pugilist. How much better was he than John
Heenan, may I ask? Wasn't the pancration, a prize-
ring, my sweet jewel of consistency?"
" If you've been through college, and see no differ
ence between a high-born athlete winning his olive--
crown in the presence of the noblest citizens of
ancient Greece, in the presence of applauding states
men, artists, poets, philosophers, and a brutal bully
pounding another brutal bully for a thousand dol
lars, in the midst of a drunken mob of gamblers and
thieves ready to scamper at the first sight of a po
liceman's billy — "
" Oh, for dear pity's sake," burst in Aunt Eliza, in
her shrillest tones, "don't you two get to quarrelling."
JEALOUSY. 153
"I hadn't t]ic least idea of quarrelling, aunty," pro
tested Madeline. "I was full of only joy and won
der and gratitude till Robert compared him to a vul
gar prize-fighter; the very idea was- so revolting, so
utterly intolerable, that I couldn't help answering
him as he deserved."
" I should never think of comparing Mr. Vyr to
a prize-lighter," said Aunt Eliza. " lie reminds me
more of one of the sons of God the Bible tells of — "
" That loved the daughters of men." The humor
ous glance with which her father finished Miss Well
ington's sentence, was entirely lost upon Madeline,
who was busy with her hair at the mirror.
Griffin sprang up from the divan where he had
been lying, in a rage which he tried to conceal under
a show of petty impatience. "1 didn't compare him
to a prize-lighter," he snarled. " I only said I leenan
had as good a skin as he had. I should think the
rest of you had glorified him enough to make up for
that. I'll grant yon he's a wonderful savage, and has
done us a devilish good turn ; but for Heaven's sake "
— choking under his increasing passion — " one would
think he had said enough himself to cover all the
points. What between his self-deification and your
abject homage, I must confess I'm beginning to be —
a trifle disgusted — and should be" — with an oatli —
'" if he were an archangel, which you all seem to think
him — especially Madeline."
" When you get over your senseless fury," returned
Madeline, turning almost as white as he, " you'll see
how wicked and ungrateful you have been. Go, Rob-
154 A DEMIGOD.
crt ; lay the head which the ' wonderful savage' has
saved on the savage's pillow. Good-night. Good
night, papa. Come, Aunt Eliza."
With this she sailed into her room and closed the
door.
" "Well," shrilled Aunt Eliza, " this is a fine time
for such a scene, isn't it ? Who would suppose it
was only a few hours since we were all trembling for
our lives ? And here we are as safe as if we were in
Boston."
" Good-night," said Griffin.
" Oh, good-night. I sincerely hope you will sleep
off your disgust. Good-night, Warren." And the
good lady sailed out of sight as proudly as her niece
had done.
Griffin remained just as Madeline had left him.
" Oh, come, come, Robert," remonstrated Major
Paul ; " as your aunt says, this is a fine time to quar
rel. What does it matter what Madge says ?"
" It matters a great deal to me, as you well know,"
sinking into a chair. " What do / care for the life
he has saved if he is going to rob me of what I value
more than my life? She has already fallen in love
with this 'great, brave, noble, godlike deliverer '-
those were her very words! How can she help it?
how could any woman help it — particularly under
the circumstances ?"
"Folly of the children of Israel ! I'd as soon think
of her falling in love with the Olympian Jupiter !"
"But she has, I tell you. Her face follows him
like a sunflower. I have eyes, if they are not ' clear
JEALOUSY. 155
and bright as those of an infant.' There's another
of her adoring phrases," he added, with intense bit
terness.
" She wonders at him, of course, as we all do, but
that does not necessarily imply love. Come, come,
I'm older than you are, and I know more about
these things than you do, Robert. A woman's heart
doesn't always go with her eyes. A cat may look at
a king, but she may not want to jump into his lap,
for all that."
" She never cared a pin for me — and what chance
have I now? I am more insignificant than ever in
her eyes. Curse the day we started on this fools'
errand !"
"I tell you, Robert, you are wrong. Xo woman
ever cares for a man, whatever he may be or what
ever he may have done for her, till he loves her
first."
""Who says he hasn't loved her first?"
"Bosh! you corybantic ninny! — he thinks no
more of her than if she were a kitten."
" I wish I could believe you, Uncle Warren. But
you are blind ; you are not in love yourself, and you
are as blind as a stone."
" They say it is love that is blind."
" Proverbs are always lies, and that's the stupidest
lie of all. Ko man has eyes like the lover ; he sees
everything. Haven't I seen this god, as everybody
calls him, drinking in her charms with those glaring
eyes of his, ever since he first set them on her?
Don't you remember how he began his inventory
156 A DEMIGOD.
by looking at her teeth? Great Heaven ! as if she
were a blooded mare ! I wish she had made him
feel them ! He evidently knows he'll never find
another like her, and you can bet your life he'll not
let her slip if he can help it."
" Nonsense. He's a scientist, man ; he wanted to
see her teeth out of pure scientific curiosity. He
doesn't often have such an opportunity for studying
the civilized woman."
" Scientific humbug !" ejaculated Griffin, jerking
his head from side to side in his impatience ; " as if
she were a beetle ! That's worse than treating her
like a horse !"
" I never knew before that beetles had teeth," re
torted the major, thinking he would try the effect of
a little humor.
" Oh, no doubt you regard it as a stupendous joke ;
but, I assure you, it's no joke to me."
" No, my poor boy ; I do not regard it as a joke,
by any means. I'm really sorry for your trouble. I
like you, and have always liked you. To be sure,
there are some things that — You know Madge
complains of a few little points which you can easily
correct, Robert, you can easily correct — and I have
hoped with all my heart that she would like you a
thousand times better than I do. Still, as I have told
you, I cannot undertake to coerce her. It would do
no good if I should — you know her well enough for
that. I really think, however, that your suspicions
arc groundless. In the first place, I've no idea that
this Hector Vyr would marry an American girl.
JEALOUSY. 157
I've a notion lie's on the lookout for all sorts of
physical perfections in the woman he is to marry,
lie's a man with a theory and a mission, and onr
American girls have no great reputation for physical
stamina, you know. But even if our Madge came
up to his standard, I'm positive she would never con
sent to imprison herself in this wilderness; no, not
if the iincst god of Greek mythology should come to
life out of the marble and offer himself to her. At
all events, you may rest assured I should do and say
all in my power to ptcvent it."
" Well," sighed Griffin, after a gloomy pause, " I
hope Madge lias taught him a thing or two besides
her dental formula. Among the fine traits he is so
anxious to develop he'd better include common de
cency. I'm thinking it will take a good many gen
erations to evolute this wonderful race into gentle
men."'
"Hippogriffina of Bagdad! but you are bitter,
aren't you ?"
" Do you wonder at it ? By heavens ! if he makes
her any sign I'll light him, big and smart as he is."
" There, there ; go to bed — that's a good fellow.
You are only killing yourself with this exc-itement."
" I say, Uncle Warren, how long do you intend to
stay here ? Can't we get away in the morning ?"
" Perhaps so. We'll have to get away soon to get
some clothes. We didn't bring our trunks, and I
doubt very much whether our last landlords will send
them."
" Confound it ! I heard his half-crazy mother tell
158 A DEMIGOD.
Aunt Eliza that their head-servant Ghiannes would
#o to Athens for anything we needed. But wo
needn't accept. We can't stay, possibly, can we ?"
" We'll talk about it in the morning. Will you
come to bed now ? I'm going."
Griffin threw his arms out on the table, and drop
ped his head on them. His uncle spoke a few con
solatory words, and left him. He had been alone
but a few minutes when a door opened, a light foot
step tripped across the floor, and a hand was laid on
his shoulder. He looked up eagerly. There stood
Madeline, dressed as she was when he had last seen
her.
" Forgive me, Robert."
" Oh, Madeline, you do not love this great — pro
digious — savage, do you?"
She started back as if he had struck her. " Rob
ert Griffin ! what are you saying ? I came to make
my peace with you, and you have — Never dare to
speak to me in this way again !"
Before he could reply she was gone.
THE TRADITIONAL OATH. 1.VJ
XII.
THE TRADITIONAL OATH.
MADELINE arose the next morning with a delicious
sense of rest, of terrible peril past and perfect safety
present, of keen interest in the singular and romantic
situation in which she and her friends were placed,
and of a certain unreasoning happiness besides which
made her join the birds in their morning songs.
Then there came up like a cloud over the bright sky
the recollection of her last scene with Robert. Poor
liobert, why could he not be satisfied with her warm,
cousinly affection ? AVhy must he spoil all, making
her as well as himself unhappy by his hopeless
persistency ? ^Vhy, above all, must he arouse her
indignation by his obstinate ingratitude and injustice
to their brave benefactor? Did he not know that
lie was taking the surest means of alienating even
her friendship 1 Had he not always shown a low
estimate of her mind and character by supposing
that she could tolerate the debased opinions and
tastes he took no pains to conceal from her i Should
she not be serving him right to show him that she
even felt insulted by his supposing it possible for
her to love a man with such ideas and habits as he
openly avowed? Why should she feel such tender
pity for him? He loved her; yes, poor, poor boy,
11
100 A DEMIGOD.
he did love her. But why, then, did he not try to
please her? why did he not try to elevate himself to
her standard ? Until he showed some disposition to
do that, what elaim had he even on her compassion ?
Certainly none. Before aspiring to her love, let him
show at least that he thought it worth making an
effort to deserve. With this definite conclusion, she
strove to banish the painful subject from her
thoughts.
Descending to the drawing-room, she found Ma
dame Yyr placidly entertaining Miss Wellington
with a gossipy description of the few people she
sometimes met. Rude and unlettered as they were,
in general, they were vivacious and kind-hearted, and
she had even found some of a better class at Mikro-
Maina whose society gave her much comfort. To
Madeline's inquiry whether she did not often sigh
for old England, she replied that until her husband's
death such a feeling had scarcely entered her mind.
Since then her anomalous life had lost very much of
its charm. No one, not even a son like his, could fill
his place in her mind. As she went on, her eyes di
lated, her face became chalky white, as it had been
when they first saw her, and her words became more
and more incoherent. With delicate tact Madeline
gradually succeeded in drawing her thoughts to her
native land. She told of her childhood and youth
in an old mansion on the Thames ; of the avenue of
grand old trees under which she used to run races
with her brother ; of her school life in London, and,
finally, of her leaving home with her father and
THE TRADITIONAL OATH. 161
brother to make the tour which had sealed her fate.
Madeline quickly asked if she had never visited Eng
land since. Yes,' she had made one long, delightful
visit, and was intending some day to make another.
Her son continually urged her to go ; but he could
not be persuaded to go with her, and she would not
leave him with only the servants for companions.
Some day, perhaps, there would be one to take her
place ; then she would go. She was very glad to
meet people who spoke her native tongue. She had
not seemed very hospitable the evening before, but
she was suffering from one of her ill turns, and they
must not regard it. Hector was always so tender,
never ashamed of her, whatever she might say or
do, although she knew she had mortified him terri
bly more than once. She could never make them
understand what a son he was to her, always so
thoughtful and loving, so obedient and deferential,
notwithstanding he was so great and strong and wise,
and she so weak and foolish. But she had not al
ways been so ; she had been considered even remark
able for her robustness of both body and mind until
— until the terrible event which —
Here Madeline gently interrupted her, to ask
whether she did not often speak English with her
son, who understood it so well. She used to, some
times, when he was a child, but not of late ; she had
become so accustomed to the language of the coun
try in which she had spent so many years of her life,
that she found it much easier to her than her own.
It was surprising, however, how it all came back to
162 A DEMIGOD.
her, now that she was talking with English people,
or, what was the same thing, Americans.
At this point Major Paul came in, accompanied
by his host, the latter dressed in ordinary Greek cos
tume, that is to say, with his brawny neck, arms, and
legs covered, as they had not been the previous day.
Vyr's face glowed with something more than ex
uberant health, and his voice swelled with rich reso
nance, as he said, " Kale-mura. That is our way of
saying good-morning. Miss Paul, your face shows
to me that you know to sleep, although you have
come from the country where it says sleep is a lost
art."
"Why?" Madeline asked, with a laugh. "Do I
look as if I were asleep ?"
" Ah, that is the way that you play with me. Do
those birds sing like as they are asleep? But we
know from their happy noise how that they have
sleeped most sweetly."
" Oh, I am noisy ?"
" You are mischief. Your father shall whip you.
You will be noisy then, I think. Manndlca, is the
breakfast prepared ? Mr. Paul and I are prepared
for it."
" We are waiting only for you and Mr. Griffin."
"I beg you not to wait for him," said the major.
" If Robert prefers walking to breakfast, let him
have his preference."
"It is right," answered Yyr. "We must not all
do the wrong because one does it."
They sat down to a meal which, though simple
THE TRADITIONAL OATH. 163
as their supper had been, their keen appetites made
sumptuous. Vyr ate almost voraciously, but princi
pally of fruit.
"Do tell me, Mr. Vyr," said Miss Wellington, in a
sort of mild desperation, " whether you really wouldn't
like a greater variety in your food, if you didn't think
it would — hurt you."
At this they all laughed, the host loudest of all.
" You think it is a strange thing," he said, " that a
lusty animal like me shall be so full of care, like an
invalid which is in the charge of the doctor. But I
have telled you that I do not have care: I eat what
I most like, because I know that is the best for my —
stojnach. It is a strange thing to me, too, that your
peoples confuse in your food so many differing sa
vors. Would you like those things if they are all
together mixed in one dish? — bread, oil, bullock,
wine, soup, fruit, iishes, nuts, birds, coffee, tea, garlic,
pepper, confection, mustard, butter, salt, vegetable,
vinegar, cigars ? Do you like such olla podrida /
Yet is it not all then in your stomach, when you
rise from the table ?"
"No," said the major, promptly. "I deny the
cigars."
"Yes, my friend; if you die — and it is wonder
why-fore you do not die — and if the doctor shall
make the autopsy, he will find the cigar, too."
A lively, half -playful discussion followed, which
Vyr seemed to enjoy hugely.
After breakfast the entertainer took Major Paul
to an eminence at a short distance from the man-
1G4 A DEMIGOD.
sion, whence were visible the wheat-fields, orchards,
and pastures populous with herds, of the Vyr estate.
Their extent and flourishing condition explained in
part, at least, the opulence of their owner's home, in
a country where the finest marble is cheaper than
granite. Finding a natural bench of stone, they seated
themselves with their backs resting against a rocky
wall, which shaded them from the warm morning
sun.
" Now," said Major Paul, with good-humored sar
casm, " can you point to something which does not
belong to the Yyr estate ?"
" Yes, Mr. Paul ; we do not own the sky, not the
mountain-tops, not the sea. I think, too, we do not
own the ground, although the laws of Greece have
given it to us for many generations. I think we own
that what my knowledge and labor and the labor of
my servants make from the ground. I have more
than two hundreds of Albanian servants, and we to
gether make very much to grow from the ground.
I do not prevent that other peoples shall make from
my ground, too, if it is their wishes, arid if they do
not rob like the klephts ; but they must pay to me a
little, because I and my fathers have made the ground
to be better for them. It is justice."
" Most certainly it is justice," replied the major,
emphatically. " By-the-way, I am curious to know
what sort of arrangement you make with your serv
ants."
" I pay to them that what their labor has value.
It is enough, and they are content. I know very
THE TRADITIONAL OATH. 105
much more than they do know, and my knowledge
makes their labor to be much more value, which I
do not give to them. I hold the greater value to
myself — it is justice. I also give good deal to the
Government. That is justice, too ; because I think
that the ground is really their ground, and because
they give to me much protection, and they make it
that I can sell my herds and my harvests, and that I
can buy all things that I wish from all the world.
The Government also gives to me much money, be
cause I have drived away the klephts many times
from the country. It is all justice."
'•AVell, Mr. Yyr," said Major Paul, relieving the
strain of the attention with which he had listened by
a deep, long breath, " I do not see but that you un
derstand the philosophy of trade and taxation as well
as if you lived in Boston — and apply it, too, excepting
that you are much more liberal than men usually are."
" 1 pay good deal to the poor peoples also, which I
find—"
" Pay ?" with a puzzled look.
" Yes, Mr. Paul. I pay to them, because I think
it is justice. God has placed them here, and they
own some of the ground like as all the children own
the ground of their father. But I do not go all over
the world to find them. Other rich men must pay
to their own poor peoples in the places where they
live together."
" Il'm; you conduct your affairs on a very unusual
basis, sir. I don't see how you prosper as you seem
to on that principle."
166 A DEMIGOD.
" I have enough, Mr. Paul, to do all my wishes,
and very much more."
"Do you go to Athens yourself to transact your
business with the Government ?"
" No ; the agent comes to me."
"But how have you been able to gather so many
choice books, ornaments, and other things as you have
in your house, if you go abroad so little ?"
"That is very easily explain. My old Ghiannes
goes away very much. lie is wise and cultivate — he
was once a teacher in Athens — he knows the things
what I love, he sends to me description and pictures^
and I send to him that he shall buy them for me.
He brought for my mother the English tables and
chairs and other things which you have seen."
"So you have never been to Athens yourself?"
" You do not remember, Mr. Paul. Have I not
said to you that I have been there two times ? One
time was when I was a little boy, with my father ;
the other time was three years ago."
" You must have attracted a great deal of atten
tion."
" Yes, a little ; not much, because we put on the
dress like the other peoples. Everybody stared at us
a little, because we were so red in our cheeks, I sup
pose, and because we walked so strangely ; but no
one knew us who we were."
" You have mentioned your father several times.
Are you willing to tell me more about him ?"
A majestic sadness settled over Vyr's face. For
a few moments he was silent ; then he began : " My
THE TRADITIONAL OATH. 167
father was killed by the kleplits three years ago. It
was then that I went to Athens the second time, Mr.
Paul. I telled you that I would explain to you of
my mother. It was the lightning-bolt from the sky
to her ; she has never recovered herself from it.
Nothing has been left to her as it was, except that to
me, her son, she is the same. And I too — for long
time my heart was the furnace trying to consume
my big body. But nature is kind, and I was young
er and stronger than my poor mother."
" Go on," said Major Paul, his broad face glow
ing with interest and sympathy ; " that is, if you
are—
"I will go on, because you ask it."
" Not by any means, Mr. Vyr, if it pains you."
" I do not wish to escape from that pain. I wish
that I shall never cease to offer to my dead father
the incense of my sorrow. In his body he was like
to me : in his character — it is my most highest am
bition to be like to him. "When he was older than I
am now a little, he tried to rescue a family from the
captivity of the kleplits. It was an English family
of rank. He could not save them, only the daugh
ter, and she was my mother. Oh, Mr. Paul, you have
never seen my mother. She was proud and strong
and beautiful ; her talking was full of diamonds like
to the lights in her eyes. It is to me only that she
has not changed."
" She is very beautiful still," said Major Paul, in a
low, tender voice.
" To you, too ?" replied Hector Vyr, his face light-
168 A DEMIGOD.
ing up with joy. "I am very glad for that. I had
fear that — But I will tell to you the story : when
I was a little child rny father protected me against
all the things which he thought can make feeble in
any little way my body and my mind. He taught
to me the habits and the thoughts which you have
seen. Like to the father of Hannibal, he made me
to say an oath. It was that I shall never relax those
severe regime which he taught to me ; that I shall
never accept offices from the Government or from
the peoples ; that I shall always live in a home iso
late from civilized men ; that I shall avoid all noto
rieties ; that I shall inarry myself with none of those
faults of the mind and body which are so great curses
to the race of man ; and, at the last, that I shall make
my son which shall take my place to swear the same.
Not until the fourteenth generation are the Yyrs to
be released from this oath."
" A most remarkable oath," said his listener, half
to himself.
" Yes. It is not like to any other, I suppose, that
men have ever sworn."
"Do you not consider it rather — a — oppressive?
Do you think a father has a right to impose such an
obligation, or that his children are morally bound to
obey it V
" I said my father made me to swear : it is better
that I say he persuaded me. But he persuaded so
strongly, so irresistibly, his reasons which he spoke
were so cogent, and the thing at which he purposed
was so noble, and it so allured to me, that it was the
THE TRADITIONAL OATH. 169
same like he compelled me. It seems to me like as
it was a command to me fixmi Heaven."
" The object, if I have rightly understood you, is
nothing more nor less than the highest possible de
gree of self-development."
" Yes, that is right. You do not see the nobleness
of such object ? It is like to selfishness ? Ah, Mr.
Paul, one man is only one little link in a long chain.
He is a fountain, and it is to flow from him a river
through all the ages that shall come, to the great
ocean of Eternity. You do not think of all the ages
that shall come — you think alone of to-day."
" Oh yes, I understand you perfectly, Mr. Yyr.
But I must confess the thoughts you suggest are too
— the issues you speak of are too comprehensive, they
involve too much, for me to take them all in at one
breath. One thing occurs to me, however: I do not
see why even self-development would not be best ef
fected by free mingling in society, by vigorous ac
tion with and upon men. And, Mr. Vyr, when I re
flect what grand results you might accomplish with
your wonderfully developed powers, how you might
influence men by your example to imitate, in some
degree at least, your methods, I cannot but feel that
your asceticism is a great wrong both to yourself and
to your race."
" You cannot separate your thoughts from here
and now," answered Yyr, a little impatiently. " When
the fulness of time shall be come, some of our line
age will go out from solitude, and do our mission in
the world. But it is not the time yet. We do not
170 A DEMIGOD.
pluck the fruit from the tree until it is ripe. "We
are not yet ripe ; we are only in the seventh genera
tion ; we have not yet risen to the high possibility.''''
"But what possible objection can there be to go
ing forth now? Instead of interfering with your
self-development, I should think the very activity of
life in the world of busy men would help it on."
" Mr. Paul," returned Vyr, with slow, emphatic
utterance, " that day which takes me away from my
solitude here shall be the doomday to the great pur
pose, that what the representatives of seven genera
tions of our family have devote themselves like to a
religion. That what you wish me to do, it has been
tested. I have not yet explain to you one thing:
our families have been few — most always it has been
only one child. But sometimes it was more; then
all except one were not bound by the oath. All the
others they can go away where they wish to go.
Some have made great reputation. You would be
astonished if I shall tell to you their name. But it
was the end. Their children have been swallowed
up in the great ocean of men without name. That
would be the same with me if I should do as you
say to me. This is why-fore I have sworn to stay
here as my fathers."
" And you really believe that want of intercourse
with your fellow -men, of the stimulus to activity
which they would be to you, is not a great loss ?"
" I have the intercourse, all which I can spare the
time. Do you forget I have many servants which
I must teach and command ? I see many times the
TIIE TRADITIONAL OATH. 171
agents and the men which do business with me. And
I have enough activity. I labor every day with the
greatest activity of all the powers of my mind and
my body. You think 1 and my fathers have not
write books ?"
"Indeed I had no idea of such a thing. Did they
publish over their own names ?"
" They have not published. They write books for
ourselves, not for the world/'
" But why do you not give them to the world ?
That certainly could do you no harm, and it might
be of vast benefit to others."
"Have I not said to you that the world has not
necessity for more books? It has enough already,
and much more than enough. No man can drink
except a few little cups from the sea of books. I
say to you again, because you do not remember, men
have not necessity for more to read, but for better
brains to read that what is already write."
"Then why do you write books at all even for
yourselves?" asked the major, becoming more and
more perplexed. "The libraries of the world are as
accessible to you as to any one else, I believe you
have said."
"We write because of the benefit to ourselves of
writing. It is very great development of the intel
lects, like hard labor is to the body. It is very little
good to me to look at you when you lift the great
stone. I must lift it by myself, that I shall grow
strong. Like that, it is more good to me to write a
book by rfiyself than to read that book which other
172 A DEMIGOD.
men have write. But I must do the both, too. I
must eat with the mouth of my brain, and labor with
the hands of my brain. I must do the two things
both."
" I hope," said the major, deferentially, " you will
allow me the pleasure of reading some of the works
of which you speak, especially those from your own
pen — though I suppose, of course, I shall have to get
some one to translate them for me."
"Not any one can read them except myself," re
plied Vyr, smiling ; " they are all here," touching
his forehead with his finger. " I write them when I
walk, when I labor in the fields ; it is too much of
time to write them with paper. But you shall see
the things which I and my fathers have discovered in
our laboratory — chemistry, mineralogy, botany, zo
ology."
" You surprise me more and more. Have you
made many new discoveries?"
" I do not know. I have not read all the books
which men have write ; but it is indifference to me
if they are new or old. It is enough if I discover
by myself. When you give to your little boy some
questions of matheinatic, he must answer them for
himself ; it is not good that other peoples shall an
swer them for him. Like that, Nature gives to us
great questions, and it is better that we shall answer
them by ourselves, not that we shall read those an
swers of other men."
" Even in your studies you think nothing of the
benefit you might be to others — only of yourself,"
THE TRADITIONAL OATH. 173
exclaimed Major Paul, with feeling. Then he red-
cK'iH'd, and begun to stammer an apology.
Vyr smiled again. "Do not yon think offence,
Mr. Paul," he said. " I am glad that you have learn
to say to me your thoughts. I wish that you shall
not hide them from me. Say some more."
Thus encouraged, the major went on: "I should
think you would be afraid that so much thought
about yourself, so much energy expended upon your
self, and so little upon your fellow-men, of the pres
ent generation at least, would develop a trait in your
character that even you will acknowledge is neither
admirable nor desjrable."
'• You mean the selfishness, egotism ?" with a good-
natured smile.
The major nodded.
" I shall show you different. If I think only of
myself, it would be the climax of egotism ; but do
not you understand what that would make me to do?
What do the selfish men, the egotists, try to do?
What do they burn up their hearts and their souls to
do '. Is not it that they shall get to themselves fame,
glory, the isolate name which shall sound loud among
all the peoples of the world, and shall go down with
great echoes to the posterity ? I am content — yes,
Mr. Paul, I wish — that the fame of Hector Vyr shall
never go away from these mountains. Who is Hec
tor Vyr? One man. Who is one man? lie is
nothing — except the preserver and the transmitter
of a Type. It is my aspiration that I shall be one
little step, one little round stick without name, in the
171 A DEMIGOD.
ladder which shall elevate one family, at least, to the
ideal manhood. I wish that the little stick shall be
strong, that it shall not break. Is it selfishness, Mr.
Paul ? is it egotism ?"
Overpowered by the inspired eloquence of the
strange enthusiast's face, voice, gestures, the major
could only say, in a low, humble tone, " No, Mr. Vyr ;
I beg your pardon for my — It is the climax of self-
sacrifice."
"Not self-sacrifice," returned Vyr, with unabated
ardor, " for I am very happy. What is fame, glory,
to me? It is nothing. It is the envy of your
friends, and the homage of your strangers, which
love }rou less as they are more distance away from
you. You are not to them a man, you are nothing
except a name. If I shall be famous, I shall still be
isolate like as I am now. What is it matter if I am
above my fellow-men, or if I am far away from
them ; I am not one of them if I shall be one or
other. JSTo, Mr. Paul ; I have not thirst for glory,
for my life is full without it. Except one black
year, my life has been intense happiness. Every
thing is joy to me, even the knowledge that I
live."
"I think I can understand that," replied the ma
jor, thoughtfully and admiringly surveying his com
panion's splendid physique. " I have heard perfect
happiness defined as the perfectly harmonious opera
tion of all the natural functions. I thank you for
what you have said. I feel highly honored by the
confidence you have placed in me, and the pains you
THE TRADITIONAL OATH. 175
have taken to enlighten me upon matters which you
must hold sacred above all others."
" One thing," said Vyr, speaking in a lower tone
and more slowly, " I have not explained. You do
not understand how that I speak so much to you,
when I have sworn that I shall avoid all notorie
ties ?'"'
" Pardon me," answered Major Paul, quickly ; " I
see no difficulty there. You recognize in me a man
of honor. You know perfectly well that nothing
would tempt me to violate your confidence, even if
you had not placed me and my friends under the
greatest possible obligation."
"Yes, Mr. Paul; I know that you are a man of
honor, but that alone shall never make me to be a
gossip to you. You are the only man except myself
which knows our family secret. I have a great rea-
eon why-fore I give it to you. I shall tell the reason
to you before you go away. I, also, am a man of
honor."
Had the speaker been any other than Hector Vyr,
the major would have felt no uncertainty as to his
meaning. lie gazed into his eyes in an eager en
deavor to extort from them the promised revelation,
hut they remained as placid and unfathomable as a
cloudless sky.
After a while Vyr went on : " My father was fifty-
eight years when he died — at the ripeness of his great
manhood. No wrinkle was in his face, no white in
his hair ; his foot was light and swift in its step like
my own ; his arm was more strong than my arm."
12
176 A DEMIGOD.
" How, then, was it," asked Major Paul, with deep
interest, " that he fell a victim to the villains whom
you so easily manage ?"
" ' Manage ?' "
" Yes — conquer, vanquish."
" Ah ! lie was wound by a bullet from a klepht
which hided himself; he was so hurted that he could
not walk ; he was made a captive— and he was killed
by the torture"
"Horrible!" exclaimed Major Paul, springing up
from his seat. " Fiends as they are, I never thought
they were such hellish fiends as that !"
Yyr answered, calmly, " They hate the Vyrs with
the great hatred. We have been their enemies with
the greatest success of all from many generations.
If I shall be captive to them, they will do the same
things to me like those which they did to my father."
" Is not your hate equal to theirs ?" asked the ma
jor, in great excitement. "I should think the first
great object of your life would be to avenge your
father. Damn the wretches ! I wouldn't rest till
I had swept the whole race from the face of the
earth!"
For some moments Yyr made no answer. He
seemed altogether to forget the existence of his com
panion, while his great dark eyes were fixed with
an inscrutable expression on vacancy. Suddenly he
aroused from his reverie, and said, in a quieter tone
than usual, " No, Mr. Paul ; I have not revenge in
my heart. The klephts are the victim of nature and
of fortune. They have inherit from their fathers,
THE TRADITIONAL OATH. 177
liko as I have inherit from my fathers. If there
shall be a country like Greece, with the history like
the history of Greece, it must be that there shall be
such peoples in the mountains like the klephts, like
as it must be that there shall be the reptiles in the
marsh, and the bears in the caves of Arcadia. I
know that it is necessity for mankind that they shall
be exterminate, like to the other beasts of prey. It
is one part of my business, my mission, that I shall
hunt them and kill them like to other serpents. I
sometimes go far from my home that I may do this
thing, because they do not come near to me many
times.
" Those Englishmen which were my guests before
you, asked me if I do not have remorse when I have
killed a klepht, if I do not see his spirit in my sleep.
I say to them, ' If I shall do the wrong, I shall feel
great remorse, God shall terribly punish me ; but if
I shall do the right, it is disease of the weak mind
and of the weak nerves, it is not punishment, if I
shall suffer. But I cannot prevent that I shall not
feel great compassion in my heart.' "
Major Paul had indulged very sparingly in his
characteristic ejaculations under the restraint of Hec
tor Vyr's mighty personality ; but here his growing
astonishment entirely broke through his restraint.
kt AVell, by the arrow-head on the tail of great King
Diabolus!" he cried, " if that isn't the meekest, cold
est-blooded philosophy I ever listened to !''
Yyr smiled, but there was no trace of mirth or of
offence in his smile. "You did not think that I am
178 A DEMIGOD.
meek or cold-blooded when you saw me at the first,
Mr. Paul ?"
" Not much, I didn't, general," answered the ma
jor, with a sudden and total change of manner. " And
it's actions that tell, after all, not words. My en
ergy goes mostly to words, they tell me. Yours
doesn't."
" By-the-way," he added, after a short silence, "that
reminds me of a question I have been wanting to ask
for a long time."
" You may ask it."
" Suppose that bullet had gone through your heart
instead of your arm — \vhat would have become of
the Great Object ?"
" Ah, Mr. Paul," answered Yyr, looking solemnly
upward, "my work would be finish. God's will
would be done. No stain of the coward must l>e
transmitted to the Coming Type"
XIII.
THE REASON " WHY-FORE."
ROMANTIC as was their situation, our travellers
were still in a world of numberless unromantic needs,
for which no amount of poetry or sentiment can fur
nish a substitute. Great was their relief, therefore,
when Ghiannes returned from Athens, bringing with
him sundry packages and big boxes, with a letter
from the proprietor of the Xen-odochcion tes Agglias
THE REASON "WHY-FORE." 179
convoying his good wishes — most extravagantly ex
pressed — and the hope that the various commissions
with which lie and his wife had been charged, had
been satisfactorily executed. So, despite the entreat
ies and angry remonstrances of Griffin, and the vacil
lation of the major — who, as usual, was tremendously
powerful in speech and correspondingly feeble in ac
tion — they remained day after day, until nearly three
weeks had passed.
During this time not the least wonderful among
the feats which their host was continually perform
ing — with no thought on his part, however, of their
being feats — was the mastery he made of idiomatic
English. As is not unfrequently the case with men
of far weaker receptivity and grasp, he seemed to
achieve this mastery all at once. After continuing
for several days the various solecisms which we have
observed in his speech, he suddenly dropped them,
and thenceforth his English was scarcely less pure
than that of his American guests ; indeed, so far as
the major's, at least, was concerned, it wras generally
choicer, if not always so forcible. This was not, af
ter all, the miracle it seemed. It was simply the feat
of a prodigious memory and of a no less prodigious
facility for catching the tricks of verbal expression.
He read a pocket dictionary and an English gram
mar as rapidly as most people would read a novel.
Once read, they were learned.
Late one afternoon host and guests were all seated
on the veranda. The sun had set, but not all his
glory. The distant waters slept peacefully under a
180 A DEMIGOD.
canopy of purple and gold, and the long, shadowed
slopes of the mountains relieved their summits, still
bright, and the velvety green of the nearer valleys.
" You are so accustomed to the beauties of mount
ain scenery, Mr. Yyr," said Miss Wellington, " that
I suppose you hardly notice them, except when there
are others to admire them with you."
" My thoughts are not directly upon them — often,"
replied Yyr, with an air of introspection. " Still, they
have become a kind of necessity to me. I feel
cramped and shut in, as if it were, when I am away,
like a captive in prison or a bird in cage. When
I am in Sparta or Athens, I feel as if I could not
breathe."
" I think I know one reason why you go away so
little," rejoined Miss Wellington, as if the thought
had suddenly occurred to her.
"Well?" with his smile. "I am anxious to un
derstand myself better."
" You are afraid the klephts will take advantage of
your absence, and lay your house and fields in ruins."
"I think you are right, Miss Wellington; though
•/ O ' O O
it would be the same if there were no such beings as
the klephts in existence. I should never go far away
unless I were absolutely compelled."
" They sometimes venture into your vicinity, in
spite of the terror of your name," remarked Griffin,
who had developed a fondness for saying such things,
particularly when Madeline was within hearing.
" Yes," answered Yyr, with the serene magnanim
ity which, instead of rebuking, had only encouraged
THE REASON "WHY-FORE." 181
the envious young man's covert insolence ; " other
wise you would not have fallen into their clutches.
Ihit,'' addressing the rest, "it is not often that they
come. They are not so safe in these mountains as
they are in northern Greece from their other ene
mies — to say nothing of myself. There they can es
cape from one chain to another, while in the single
chain of the Taygetns an energetic and well organ
ized movement might cut off their retreat on both
sides. I think they would never come south of the
isthmus at all, if it were not for their hope of catch
ing me at last. Notwithstanding their superstitious
fear of the AnthropoJd'/ uton and his noiseless, srnoiye-
less fc/< r»<lo)i, a sort of fascination sometimes tempt. ••
them to their fate, as the flume of the lamp tempts
the silly moth. They complain," he added, laughing,
"that my warfare is not fair warfare. This last in
vasion of theirs, however, was probably entirely on
your account. They heard of your intended visit,
and came down purposely to meet you."
"No," said the major; " Peschino got his informa
tion from one of the Government messengers that
was sent to announce our visit."
" He might have done that in the very heart of
Athens," answered Vyr.
"How would that be possible?" asked Miss Well
ington.
"Oh, these fellows venture everywhere. Peschi
no, in particular, is an adept at disguising himself.
1 have heard that he boasts of having danced with
some of the finest ladies at the Roval Palace !"
182 A DEMIGOD.
" Don't you sometimes wish you were free to or
ganize and head a grand movement to exterminate
them altogether ?" asked Madeline.
o
" I often wish there were many others to fight
them in my own way ; but your own adventure
shows to you how useless ordinary troops would be
against them. An army would be almost as helpless
as a single man. Even if it were not so, many
changes must be made before there could be the
O
slightest use in such an attempt. First of all, the
Ottoman Empire, the great retuge of the klephts,
musty be converted or subjugated. Then there must
be/ internal changes — physical, social, and political :
roadways must be constructed from coast to coast
across the mountains ; the morale of the whole na
tion must be raised ; as it is, not only a certain part
of the people, but some of the Government officials
themselves are said to be the secret allies of the
klephts. Do you not see they have nothing to lose
by being so ? If they displease the outlaws without
destroying them, they are like the huntsman who but
slightly wounds a dangerous animal. If they please
the outlaws, they are only lightly taxed by them,
and not otherwise disturbed. It is doubtless a fact
that certain politicians depend for their principal
support upon the brigand chiefs, who control the
suffrages of the people they rob. If these politicians
remain neutral, the suffrages of the people are given
to their political rivals. No, Mr. Paul, I have no
longing to organize and head any movement under a
government made, in part, by its own outlaws. I
THE KEASOX " WHY-FORE." 183
am content to go on fighting the wretches as my fa
thers did before me, and the Government is glad to
send their agents to compensate me, for, you must
understand, at heart the real government is right :
it is only a necessary policy that compels them to act
as they do. They are rejoiced if Hector Yyr or any
one else will fight the common enemy, if he will
only not throw the odium on tliem"
" The people seem to think a great deal of their
Government," observed Major Paul. " When I was
at Athens I heard little else talked about."
" Yes," replied Vyr, with a smile of contempt ;
'• the ridiculous little squabbles of their politicians
afford them a never-ending theme for dispute. The
Boule supports one ministry or another as it pleases,
and it is more changeable than the wind. There
have been as many as fifty revolutions within half as
many years. It is always M. Tricoupis vs. M. Cou-
mondouros, or JM. Mpotzaroa vs. M. Hikezetis — one
rival vs. another always. Politics, which in other
countries forms an important subject of thought and
talk, has degenerated in Greece to one of the most
trivial ; it is scarcely more worthy the attention of a
sensible mind than the common gossip of a country
village — in truth, it is very much like it. Yet the
Greek politicians wonder why foreigners arc not as
deeply interested in it as themselves. Knowing lit
tle of the ancient glory of their country, except as a
matter for empty boasting, they cannot understand
why the enthusiasm of tourists should be confined to
antiquities?"
184 A DEMIGOD.
Here was an opportunity for Major Paul, and lie
improved it. "Some of us at home have a similar
difficulty," he said ; "we cannot understand why the
enthusiasm of our scholars and educators should be
so largely confined to antiquities — as it is, Mr. Yyr,
although America is the exact opposite of Greece in
all the respects you have named. You will admit
that American politics and European politics in gen
eral are something above the gossip of a country vil
lage ; yet many of our schools and colleges seem to
think nothing is worthy of their attention but anti
quity. There are no orators, no authors to-day, and
there have been none since the time of Virgil and
o
Cicero. It is all Greek and Latin, Greek and Latin,
until we practical men are sick with disgust. Mas
todons and blue-bottles! as if the world had fallen
into its dotage, like a broken-down old man who can
think or speak of nothing but the great things ho
did when he was a boy ! I believe we know more,
can do more, think better, write better, speak better,
and fight better to-day, Mr. Vyr, than any past gen
eration that ever crawled on the face of the earth.
Crawled, I say, sir, for we are the only generation
that ever did anything else. Great George Wash
ington ! to think of puttering over a Greek accent
when there are stars in the sky and living kingdoms
and republics on earth !"
Kow there were few things which amused Hector
Vyr more than the vigor of the majors verbal ex
pression. His highly developed intuition had almost
instantly divined the portly, loud-voiced American's
THE REASON " WHY-FORE.'' 185
true character, with its wealth of warm-heartedness
mid impulsiveness, and its lack of real strength. He
listened to the stormy tirades, which were gradually
resumed as their acquaintance ripened into familiari
ty, with the keen enjoyment of a naturalist over a
new specimen. Nevertheless, out of deference to
the major's diitour propre, he usually repressed his
mirth, and answered with the respect he felt due to
his guest's amiable traits and relations towards him
self, but more especially to him as the father of a far
stronger, though scarcely less impulsive, daughter.
So now, with a kindly smile, he replied :
" You are both right and wrong, Mr. Paul, as I
think. As a whole, the race of man has greatly im
proved since the days of antiquity. We must admit,
however, that in language and art we have degener
ated as a race almost as much as the Greek nation
lias degenerated in all respects from the standard of
their ancestors."
" Your language is not very patriotic, sir," said
Griffin, with a glance at Madeline.
" "Why-fore is it not, Mr. Griffin ? I speak in pure
pity, not in censure. The Greek people have suf
fered from great calamities, for which they are not
to be blamed. It is the ages of Turkish oppression
that have reduced them to their present level. Now
they are free, and I believe that in time they will re
bound to a greater height than they have ever yet
reached ! * I am by birth a Greek, although my
* Hector Vyr's prophecy is proving true. The situation in
186 A DEMIGOD.
ancestors represent many different nations. I have
lived all my life in Greece, I am grateful for what 1
have received, and, as I have told you, I try to make
myself of use. If I were free from my oath, I
would do what one man could towards a political and
social reform. But I am not only a Greek — I am
one of the race of mankind. The world is more
than Greece ; man is more than the Greeks ; time is
more than to-day — more than the nineteenth centu
ry. I am a zealot, a visionary. So be it."
" You appear to have very definite ideas in regard to
the distant future," remarked Griffin. " How do you
know the nineteenth century will not be the last ?"
Although his words were innocent enough, there
was an ill-repressed bitterness in the tone and the
look which he threw at Madeline that could not
have escaped Yyr. With his usual serenity, how
ever, the latter replied :
Greece is better to-day than ever before since the Revolution.
The flight of Otlio and the accession of Georgias were inestima
ble blessings. The ancient blood is once more stirring, and ev
erywhere energy and enterprise are showing themselves. The
reclamation of the vast marshes of the Morea is fast advancing.
Hundreds of villages have already been rebuilt, and many roads
have been constructed since 1874. Best of all for the honor of
Greece, she has practically wiped out the greatest blot on her es
cutcheon — the brigand. After the capture and murder of Lord
Muncastcr's party at Oropos near Marathon, in 1870, aroused by
the condemnation of the civilized world, the Hellenic Govern
ment put forth its best efforts. Directed by the energetic min
ister, Zaimas, the entire army went against the treacherous foe,
and since then scarcely a klepht has dared to show his head near
a centre of population.
THE liEASON " WHY-FORE." 187
" How do you know tins day will not be your last ?
Yet you lay your plans for to-morrow and next year
and years afterwards, precisely as if you were sure of
them. I know no more of the future than you ; but
I see everywhere in the organisms around me the
Creator's plan. Every living species is born, grows
to maturity, declines, and dies : that is the history of
an individual man, and I believe it will be the histo
ry of the race of man, which, as yet, is only in its
early youth. Many thousand generations, I think,
must come and go before it will reach a maturity it
has never yet dreamed of. God will not cut the best
tree in his garden down until it has borne its rich
fruit. This, Mr. Griffin, is why-fore I do not believe
the nineteenth century will be the last."
The last gray fringe of twilight had now died out
above the ^gean ; Orion and the Dogs had reached
their maximum brilliancy in the moonless sky ; and
the mountains had become mere masses of unvary
ing blackness against the horizon. In the increasing
crispness of the air the voices of the speakers had
become more and more distinct and resonant. By
a natural impulse Madeline began to sing softly to
herself.
" Louder, Madge !" said her father, and all but
Griffin warmly seconded the invitation. Without
an instant's hesitation she began Leonora's little song
in " II Trovatore,"
" Tacca la noltc placidd,
E bclla in del sereno."
188 A DEMIGOD.
As her pure, sweet voice poured out into the night
air, it seemed to intensify rather than to disturb the
calmness and peace that reigned around, as if the sil
very notes made harmony with the voiceless music
of the stars. Even those of the party who were
familiar with her singing listened entranced as they
had rarely been before ; what, then, must have been
the effect upon Hector Vyr ? lie scarcely breathed,
but sat, with face bent forward and lips apart, as if
fearful of losing her lightest note. When the vol
ume of exquisite sound swelled in
" Qtiando suonar per Faere,"
he left his seat, unconsciously advanced, and stood
directly before her. He uttered no word, however,
until she had finished. Then he walked twice up
and down the veranda, stopped abruptly, and said, in
tones thrilling with suppressed emotion,
"My friends, I never before in my life heard a
woman sing. My mother could play very sweetly
upon instruments a few years ago, but she could not
sing. I have often read of female voices, and I
O '
thought I could imagine what they were like; but
my idea was no more like what I have just heard
than a blind man's conception of light is like light
itself. Miss Paul, I thank you from my heart.
Would it be asking too much if I should ask you
to— to— "
" Sing again ?"
" Oh yes ! will you, Miss Paul 2"
She sang two more songs, and then laughingly re-
THE REASON "WHY-FORE." 189
fused to gratify him further, lest the charm of nov
elty should be too soon dispelled.
Through it all Griffin had not spoken a word.
The next time Vyr saw the major alone, he asked
what could be the trouble with Mr. Griffin. "Was he
ill? Major Paul tried to put him off. Robert was
subject to occasional fits of depression ; in fact, to
tell the truth, he suspected the poor boy was a trifle
homesick, etc.
" I am very sorry for him," Vyr replied, fixing his
frank, inquiring eye upon the major's averted face.
" He loves your daughter, does he not ?"
" Ye — 2/&S," said Major Paul, explosively. " Un
lucky fellow, I believe he does."
"Do you not know that he does?"
"lie has said as much to me."
"Why, then, did you say you simply believed?"
" I — I — Bless my soul, Mr, Vyr, I believe what I
know, don't I?" desperately.
* Ah yes. I shall learn English by-and-by. Does
your daughter love him too?"
" Who can tell ? Women are a great mystery."
" She does not say whether she loves him or not ?"
" Oh, she says she doesn't."
"Do you not believe your daughter's word, Mr.
Paul?"
The poor father quailed under the look and tone
with which this home-question was asked. He lit a
match and applied it to his cigar — although it was
still burning— and finally replied,
" You do not understand American girls, Mr. Vyr.
190 A DEMIGOIX
On this subject I do not think they understand them
selves. At any rate, they do not always feel com
pelled to reveal their feelings — particularly to a third
party."
" And so," rejoined Vyr, with an air of astonish
ment, "to avoid revealing their feelings, they some
times tell lies ?"
Major Paul laughed. " That is a very strong way
of putting it," he said.
" What do you mean by ' strong way ?' Is it not
the true way? If I should put it in a weak way,
would it not mean the same thing ? I ask you again,
Mr. Paul, do young women think it is right to tell
lies to avoid revealing their feelings ?"
We have all been pushed in precisely this way
by bright, persistent children, whose honest, inquir
ing eyes have made us feel ashamed of our own want
of frankness. Add to the simple-hearted persistence
of a child the power of presence and the penetrating
vision of the highly developed man at his prime, and
we have some notion of the poor major's embarrass
ment.
" You follow me up very closely, sir," he said, his
face growing hot. " I — I — perhaps they think third
parties have no right to pry into their secret feel
ings."
" Ah ! then they should say so. And if you do
not wish to answer my questions, my friend, you
should &ay so too."
" I have no objection to answering your questions.
Perhaps you have a right to ask them, sir 2" turning
THE REASON " WHY-FORE." 191
with unwonted boldness and spirit to the inquisitor.
Had the latter been any other than Hector Vyr, the
proud American would have roused himself long be
fore. So complete had been his subjection to that
prodigious force of character, that he had usually
submitted, without resentment or conscious humilia
tion, to things which, from any other source, would
have called forth his stormiest indignation. If he
thought of them at all, he attributed them to the
ascetic's phenomenal simplicity of character and his
ignorance of the world. In this he was partially
right ; for with rare exceptions no one could be
more innocent of intentional offence than Hector
Vyr. But, as we have seen, the major did occasion
ally bustle up. " Perhaps you have a right to ask
these questions of me, sir ?" he repeated. " I pre
sume that is a proper question for me to ask."
" Have I not the right to ask any question I wish,
since I do not compel you to answer unless you
wish ?" Vyr returned, opening wide his great eyes.
With all his reading and study, with all his delicate
receptivity, he had utterly failed thus far to under
stand some of the most obvious rules of human in
tercourse. His unflawed honesty of soul was his
great stumbling-block in the acquisition of this most
desirable accomplishment. Receiving no answer, he
went on, presently : " Mr. Paul, I do not believe your
daughter tells lies. If she has said she does not love
this young man, I know that she does not love him."
Then he added, calmly, " Is it your wish that she
Bhould, Mr. Paul?"
13
192 A DEMIGOD.
"Yes," answered the major, throwing his reserve
to the winds, " that has been my hope. Griffin has
a good many faults, it is true ; he is not her equal,
by any means, in mind or character, but he is de
voted to her, and I have no doubt would make her
happy if she only would think so. He is well
thought of at home, occupies a good position, that is,
in social and business circles, and will be amply able
to give her any and every thing she can wish. To
tell the truth, Mr. Yyr, that is the principal reason
why I took them together on this tour."
The major's eyes had not been for an instant on
his listener during the whole of this speech, else he
could no longer have doubted the right or motive of
Vyr's questioning.
"But your plan has failed," replied Vyr, with ir
repressible eagerness. " She does not love him, she
never can, he is too far, far beneath her. Mr. Paul,
I promised you that before you went from me I
would explain to you the reason why-fore I told you
so many things about myself and my fathers. The
time has come — /love your daughter."
MAJOll PAUL ASTONISUES UIMSELF. 193
XIY.
MAJOR PAUL ASTONISHES HIMSELF.
ALTHOUGH almost constantly in Madeline's society,
Griffin was not foolish nor weak enough to weary
her with petty verbal importunity. He might as
well, however, for he made no attempt to disguise
his unhappiness ; he indulged in frequent fits of ill-
humor and moody abstraction, to which pity and
sorrow made her charitable. She tried every means
in her power to divert his thoughts and restore him
to cheerfulness. At last her long-continued forbear
ance yielded, which, of course, was the surest way
of bringing up the subject most constantly in his
mind ; for there is nothing like the effervescing wine
of a good, sharp quarrel to loosen the tongue.
It was the very day after the scene recorded at
the close of the last chapter. The major had thus
far kept his own counsel ; nevertheless something — a
bird in the air — had made the unhappy lover still
more fractious and despairing than ever. Madeline
had been bantering him in her best-natured vein ;
she had sung to him, read to him, chatted to him, all
without avail. " Come, Eobert," she said, at length,
" do throw off this everlasting gloom ; it is getting
utterly intolerable. You are worse than an immortal
nightmare. You never seem to think of your good-
194 A DEMIGOD.
fortune. Think where yon were three weeks ago,
and where you are now. Try to feel a little decent
gratitude to Heaven and to — to —
AVith jealous fury Griffin grasped at her momen
tary hesitation. " You dare not utter his name to
me," he said, pointing his long finger and glaring at
her from under his black brows. " You dare not
utter his name — but your cheeks speak for you."
The glow which had suddenly risen in her face
deepened to vivid scarlet.
"Now" he cried, pursuing the advantage he had
gained in such unmanly fashion, " will you tell me
you don't love him ?"
In an instant her downcast eyes were lifted in fiery
anger. He saw the fatal mistake he had made, fell
on his knees, and besought her forgiveness.
She turned away scornfully.
"Oh, Madeline!— "
" Not a word till you are sane enough to stand on
your feet at least."
This brought him to his senses for a moment. He
rose, and began in a low, pathetic tone to bewail his
fate. But soon his voice became louder and his
utterance more rapid. Deaf to her replies, whether
of anger or entreaty, he raved on : He loved her
with the honest love of a natural man. Insignificant
as she thought him, he claimed to be the peer of any
man — lie did not aspire to compete with gods or
devils. No sensible woman with the flesh and blood
of the nineteenth century could ask for more. He
loved her, and would make her happy in a home
MAJOR PAUL ASTONISHES HIMSELF. 195
among the children of men — in her own country and
among her own kindred.
( Kercome by her compassion for his hopeless love,
her indignation at his merciless interpretation of her
slight hesitation and her blushing — who wouldn't
change color, so suddenly and cruelly arraigned ? —
her mortification at his repeated innuendoes — over
come by these conflicting emotions, she burst into
a violent fit of weeping, hysterically lamenting that
she had ever left her home in Boston. Nothing
would have induced her to do so if she only could
have foreseen. They had been such good friends for
so many years, with nothing of this sort — and now !
Oh, if she could only get away — anywhere from that
place — home best of all.
Griffin eagerly caught at her last words. Get
away ? of course she could — that very day — that very
hour, lie knew the way to MikroMaina, whence
they could return to Athens as they had come.
She was hardly prepared to be so promptly taken
at her word. Her dilemma, with the tears she had
shed, cleared her brain and restored her self-con
trol. She would do nothing so foolishly heroic.
She would talk with her father, and see what }><•• said
about their all going away together. "With this
promise Griffin was forced to be content, and they
separated on better terms than had appeared possible
an hour before.
While Madeline was waiting for an opportunity
to redeem her promise, she became conscious of a
growing burden upon her spirits, an undefined some-
196 A DEMIGOD.
tiling that stilled her inclination to sing and laugh,
and made her sigh instead. She tried to think it
was pity for Robert, regret at their angry words,
exhaustion from excitement, together with a perfectly
natural reaction from the too great happiness of the
past three weeks — the afternoon cloud which the too
bright sun of the morning had brought.
As she thought more and more of going away, the
weight upon her spirit grew heavier. She felt that
she was under a spell too potent for her to break, a
spell, she argued to herself, cast, not alone by a mere
personality, but by the thrilling romance of past
events and present environment, harbored with her
dearest friends in a refuge so near the scene of their
late mortal peril, and yet perfectly safe, among sur
roundings so wildly grand, whose master was an In
telligence so lofty, a host so benignant, a protector
so powerful. Like the enthralled reader of a tale,
she felt that she could not lay down the volume till
the last page was read.
While she sat thus absorbed one morning at the
window of her bedroom, her chin resting on her
hand, her aunt entered.
" Oh, Madeline," Miss Wellington exclaimed, rapt
urously, "you ought to have come with me this
morning. I have found the loveliest walk you ever
saw in your life !"
" I know, aunty, everything is beautiful here. But
do you think we ought to stay any longer ?"
" Why — I don't know, I'm sure. Under any oth
er circumstances, you know, my dear — Mr. Vyr and
MAJOR PAUL ASTONISHES HIMSELF. 197
his mother being total strangers before we came —
but they both seem so anxious that we should stay,
particularly Mr. Vyr — he looks so dejected, so utter
ly miserable whenever any one of us hints at going
— with those great soft eyes of his, that tell every
thing so plainly — that I really think, Madeline —
However, that is a matter for your father to decide,"
and she began to take off her hat and gloves.
" Of course," replied Madeline, oracularly. " But
you know how generous and democratic papa is. lie
makes powerful speeches for the affirmative or nega
tive, but he always does just as the majority vote."
Aunt Eliza thought.
"We are evidently conferring at least as much
pleasure as we are receiving," she said, presently.
" It is not often, you know, that they have an oppor
tunity to see and talk with civilized people. And he
is making such wonderful improvement in his man
ners and speech — did you ever see any one learn so
fast as he is learning English ?"
" It certainly is wonderful," assented Madeline.
11 1 really think, my dear, that it is our duty to
stay a little longer, and give them the benefit of our
society. It is little enough we can do, at best, to show
our gratitude. Think what we owe him, Madeline."
" Should we seem ungrateful if we refused to
stay?" Madeline asked, pensively. "I wouldn't do
anything ungrateful for the world ; and yet I — I — •
Robert is very anxious to go."
" Oh, he is, is he ?" returned Aunt Eliza, with a
laugh. " Well, it is very easy to understand that"
198 A DEMIGOD.
" Has lie — has he said any tiling to you ?" a hot
flush mounting to her brow.
" I should think lie had. lie thinks we are act
ing very improperly; that we are making ourselves
ridiculous, to say the least, by making so long a visit
to this hermit in this out-of-the-way place ; that it is
a poor way to return the favor he did us, to impose
so long upon his hospitality. But that's all non
sense — / see what the real trouble is, if you or your
father do not. He's afraid of Mr. Vyr's — influence
over you, Madeline. In other words, the poor boy
is jealous. There, there, you needn't look so terribly
angry. I didn't mean any harm. I didn't say he
had any real occasion, did I? To tell the truth, I'm
afraid of Mr. Vyr's influence over myself, over us
all. He's such a wonderful character, so overmaster
ing, that I sometimes feel as if we should all become
his slaves if we remained here long enough."
" Not /," retorted Madeline, raising her head proud
ly. " What right have you to say such things ? No
one could be more kind and considerate. He doesn't
understand all our forms, but his occasional little rude
nesses are the rudenesses of honesty — grand, man
ly honesty and power. He cannot handle such ten
der creatures as we are without sometimes hurting
our delicate sensibilities — but he never means to
hurt us, aunty."
"No, I suppose not—you least of all. Be careful,
my dear. You are a strong little thing, the dear
knows, but he is vastly stronger."
"Be careful of what?" burst forth Madeline, petu-
MAJOR PAUL ASTONISHES HIMSELF. 199
lantly. " What have I done, what lias lie done, that
I should be subjected to such humiliating looks and
speeches ? You and Robert and everybody seem bent
on— I won't stay here another day. I promised
Robert I would ask papa to go, and I am going to
find him this minute."
" Perhaps that's the best thing you can do, my
dear," returned Aunt Eliza, placidly. Then, as Made
line stood irresolutely playing with the door-knob,
" You might as well wait until you are calmer. Don't
be offended with me, at any rate; I only spoke as I
did for your best good. I thought you praised Mr.
Vyr rather warmly ; and you talked as if you really
wanted to stay here."
"That was because I am enjoying the place so
much," replied Madeline, with pretty hesitation ;
'-and — and — you said yourself that we should be
ungrateful to leave — when ho is so anxious that we
should remain."
" Still," returned Miss Wellington, with decision,
" I am afraid of Mr. Vyr's power over us. Don't
you see how your papa yields to him, and follows
him around like a child ? If any one else should take
such liberties with Major Paul as Mr. Vyr does —
innocently enough, I'll admit — how do you suppose
he would bear it ( I confess, I cannot understand
the secret of this man's power. He certainly makes
no effort to control us."
"/understand it," said Madeline, her heart swell
ing with enthusiastic pride, for which the next mo
ment she was covered with confusion. " It has been
200 A DEMIGOD.
handed down to him from generation to generation,
like his superb courage and —
" If he were reserved and silently dignified," Aunt
Eliza went on, without noticing Madeline's embar
rassment, " I should understand it better ; but he is
so perfectly frank and unrestrained, he always speaks
BO freely of himself, one would suppose that would
relax his power over others ; it usually does. I do
think he is the most remarkable example of what
they call ' personal magnetism ' I ever saw ; don't
you 2"
" If we are all in such danger," replied Madeline,
with a demure smile, " we'd better escape while we
can. I'm calm enough now, you see, aunty, so I'm
going to find papa, and beg him to flee at once from
this moral and intellectual cuttle-fish."
She ran down to the veranda, where the major was
usually to be found at that time of day engaged in
reading or meditation. Not finding him there, she
started for the cliff, another of his favorite resorts.
She had just reached the base, when a voice fell on
her ear which arrested her steps and sent a cloud of
color to her cheek. It was at a considerable distance,
but so clear and still was the air that she could hear
every syllable with perfect distinctness —
" Tacea la, notte placida,
E bella in del sereno;
La luna il visa argenteo
Mostrava licto a pieno !"
Loud and clear as a clarion came the notes, yet
mellow and full of tender sensibility. Only one chest
MAJOR PAUL ASTONISHES HIMSELF. 201
she knew of could send forth such sounds, so power
ful, yet so sweet —
" Quando suonar per I'acrc,
Infino allor si muto,
Dolci ii'iidiro e flclili,
Gli accordi d'un Unto,
E versi inelanconici,
U/i trovator cantb."
Every word and note just as she had sung them
that night on the veranda !
She listened till the sounds died away, then she
slowly went up the ascent, her lips parted in a happy
smile.
" What a voice !" she thought — " and what a
memory! He said he never heard a woman sing
before. I suppose he never saw an American girl
before. I must be almost as great a curiosity to him
as he is to me. I wonder whether he altogether —
approves of me."
As she went on up the ascent, thinking upon this
profound problem, it must be confessed she was not
conscious of any very harassing doubts as to its
proper solution. At the top of the cliff she found
her father, to whom she immediately communicated
her errand. I suspect, however, that her pleading
lacked something of its wonted persuasiveness, for,
contrary to its usual result, it was fruitless. The
major, ordinarily so plastic, was for once actually
immovable.
Go away? what, when Yyr wanted him to stay?
Not if he knew it. In any other case he should un-
202 A DEMIGOD.
dcrstand, of course, that it was nothing but empty
politeness ; but when Hector Yyr said a tiling, it was
so — if it was only "Good-morning."
With a long face Madeline reported her defeat to
Robert Griffin. He angrily accused her of purpose
ly failing ; she had not half tried ; it was only neces
sary to get her father to scold a little more, and the
thing was done. A little conscience-smitten, she re
ceived his reproaches meekly, and proposed that they
should try the effect of their united powers of per
suasion. But for some reason or other even these
failed. Aunt Eliza was then induced to add the
weight of her influence ; still with no result. The
major scolded enough to satisfy even Griffin, but,
strange to say, his determination was not a whit un
dermined thereby. They might as well hold their
tongues, he said, at last ; not one of them knew what
they were talking about. Then in a dogged way he
muttered, " Griffin may go to-day if he wants to ;
the rest of us will follow when I think proper."
With which he stalked away.
Griffin pursued him in a great heat. " Well, Uncle
Warren, what am I to understand by that ?"
" lley ? what ? You're your own master, aren't
you ? If you want to go, /can't prevent you. But,
by the Little Billy Peterson ! I propose to be mas
ter in my own family for once, if I never was be
fore !"
" You want to drive me off the field, do you ?"
said Griffin, growing white.
" Don't talk trash. You have a fair field. Go or
GRIFFIN RETURNS. 203
stay, as you please. If you want my advice, I'd ad
vise you to stay" And he again turned his back.
"Without more ado, Griffin returned to Madeline,
whom he found alone. He told her that he had
made up his mind to leave the next morning, and
besought her again and again to accompany him.
She persistently refused, at first with indignation,
finally with tears.
k% Well, then," said he, fiercely, " good-by, Made
line — and may God forgive you, for I never shall !
But," he added, "I shall return.'''
XV.
GRIFFIN RETURNS.
Miss WELLINGTON somewhat exaggerated both her
own discomfort in the presence of her host and the
major's subserviency. It remained true, neverthe
less, that, although every effort was apparently made
to put them at their ease, they were oppressed with
an increasing sense of their own inferiority, and were,
therefore, under a constant strain to appear at their
best, which in time became very wearisome. At each
observation made by one, the other furtively scanned
Vyr's face for some little sign of disapproval or even
contempt. Nothing of the kind ever appeared. On
the contrary, he always listened with the most kind
ly interest, and replied with a fulness and a simplic
ity which should have precluded all suspicion of
204 A DEMIGOD.
mental reservation. Perhaps it was this very unflag
ging attentiveness that made them feel as if they
were being continually weighed in the balance — as if
those luminous eyes were microscopic lenses, through
which they were inspected with unsparing criticism.
Madeline alone felt no discomfort under this moral
mastery. She rather gloried in it : to her there was
an exquisite pleasure in the contemplation of a nature
so lordly. She felt the loyal thrill of hero-worship
which women so often feel in a lesser degree for
men far beneatli them in reality, but whom they have
idealized — whose grossness they have taken for gran
deur, whose brutality they have taken for power. In
her mute homage she felt no sense of abasement.
She pictured to herself a fitting mate for this natural
monarch, a soul as queenly as his was kingly, a face
and form as divinely beautiful as his were majestic,
an ideal woman, the equal and complement of this
ideal man.
In these reveries, if her thoughts ever reverted to
herself, it was only to contrast herself with the peer
less creation of her fancy, and to blush at the humili
ation to which her friends had so inconsiderately or
cruelly subjected her. More definitely than this she
scarcely thought. If she had been conscious of a re
sponse within her heart to their accusations and in
nuendoes, though never so slight and timid, she would
at once have crushed it back with terror. She could
indulge for a while her wonder and admiration for this
human prodigy, as she had basked in the glories of
the Parthenon; and then — satisfied and ennobled—
GRIFFIN RETURNS. 205
return to America, where, perhaps, in due time she
might mate with one of her own kind, to whom she
would relate all her wonderful adventures. Poor
Cousin Robert !
One afternoon, a few days after Griffin had taken
his abrupt departure, she was swinging in a hammock
among the trees at a little distance from the house.
She had, of late, taken to wearing the picturesque
Greek costume, partly, I suppose, because she thought
it would please her entertainers, and partly because
she liked to be herself in harmony with her surround
ings : she liked to view herself objectively, as a part
of the landscape. Upon her head she wore a fez
with a long blue tassel, beneath which her abundant
hair was twisted in a classical knot ; a jacket of crim
son velvet richly embroidered with gold fitted closely
her superb figure ; her petticoat was of lustrous golden
silk, while her feet were encased in slippers of crim
son velvet embroidered like her jacket.
She was alternately reading and thinking, when
suddenly a shadow fell across her page. She looked
up, and beheld Hector Yyr gravely contemplating
her. His eyes did not fall nor waver, but remained
fixed with an intentncss which caused her to drop
her own and uneasily to change her position, while
the rosy cloud deepened on her cheek.
" I see I have been rude again," he said, smiling.
"I did not know it. I am afraid I shall never learn
to be like your American gentlemen. I was looking
at you that I might read your thoughts in your eyes;
I wished to know whether they were happy or sad —
203 A DEMIGOD.
whether they were upon what yon have been read
ing, or upon yourself and your home so many miles
away."
"And what is your decision, Mr. Yyr?" Madeline
asked, recovering her equanimity.
"I do not think they are sad. They were very
busy until I broke in upon them. If I had been a
klepht I could have seized you and carried you off
without your knowing it." And he laughed softly
and musically.
"]STot while Mr. Yyr was within hearing," retorted
Madeline, looking among the trees with a little shud
der.
" Ah, Madeline Paul, what joy it would be to save
you !" he said, looking at her in a kind of rapture.
"Thank you," she replied, briskly; "once is quite
enough to satisfy me. If you could read my thoughts
correctly, Mr. Yyr, you would have seen that that
was the very thing which was occupying them when
you interrupted them."
" Then I am glad I interrupted them. You must
not think so much upon the past, Madeline ; you
must think upon the present, as I do. It is a much
pleasanter theme."
" It is very pleasant," assented Madeline ; " but I
like to think of the past, too, and contrast it with the
present. By-gone dangers only enhance the happi
ness of present safety —
'•' ' Rich the treasure,
Sweet the pleasure,
Sweet the pleasure after pam.'
GRIFFIN RETURNS. 207
I have been thinking how -wonderfully and myste
riously your powerful succor came to us just after I
had prayed for it. It seems certain that God heard
my prayer and sent an immediate answer. Don't
you believe it, Mr. Vyr 2"
Yyr smiled. Then, after a thoughtful pause, he
answered, " There is in my veins the blood of an im
aginative race — fond of the supernatural. I inherit
the tendency to see divinity in everything around
me — events controlled by unseen hands. But I rec
ognize the vastness of the universe, on whose throne
sits the One Supreme, and the insignificance — nay,
the utter nothingness — of our planet, with all it con
tains, in comparison."
" ' Not a sparrow falls to the ground without His
notice,' " said Madeline.
"Ah, that is woman's beautiful faith."
"It is not an unreasoning faith," she protested.
4> That which took place on that day could not
have happened by mere accident. It must have
been the act of a pitying, all-merciful Father, whose
messenger you were. I can never believe other
wise. Simple gratitude would forbid, if nothing
else."
" That does more credit to your heart than to your
philosophy," replied Vyr, with another smile. " But
who can say, after all, that you are wrong ? Man's
boasted philosophy is doubtless a far less stable struct
ure than he thinks it. I wonder if He who knows
all truth holds in derision the conclusions we so
gravely form— our ascription of absolute supremacy,
14
208 A DEMIGOD.
for example, to what we call Natural Law, because
we have never seen it superseded."
" But you and I have both seen it superseded, have
we not ?" asked Madeline, eagerly.
" Who knows ? People in great distress or dan
ger almost always pray for deliverance. Some
times deliverance comes — sometimes not. Mere
chance would bring it sometimes. Then, of course,
it is but natural to attribute it to divine interposi
tion."
Seeing the look of dismay which this cold philoso
phy cast over her face, he went on quickly :
" But, as I said, who knows ? Men who think their
reason infallible are often guilty of the grossest un
reason. Only the absolute atheist can logically deny
the possibility of divine intervention. He who writes
of an ' unknowable ' Source of all things writes ab
surdly when he says that He never can and never
does perform special acts in the universe He has
made. I questioned only our right to decide when
and how those special acts are performed. The con
ception of the great First Cause as contemplating the
merely automatic workings of his mechanism in ut
ter idleness is monstrous !"
" Thank you for saying that, Mr. Vyr," responded
Madeline, tremulously. " It would be a great blow
to me if my faith in the care of a Heavenly Father
wrere shaken. It is the sweetest thought in my rec
ollections of the past."
Yyr seemed to be pondering upon her words.
Presently he asked, as he seated himself upon the
GRIFFIN RETURNS. 209
grass, " Do you not like to think of the future as
well as of the past?"
" Yes," she replied, vaguely, " I love to dream — as,
I suppose, every one does."
" People live more in the future than in the past
or present, do they not ?"
lie questioned her with very much the same look
.and manner that a bright child might assume in
questioning a much- beloved teacher.
" Some do : not all," the fair oracle answered.
"Who do not?"
" AVell — those who have no future to look forward
to — those who arc perfectly hopeless."
" Are there any such people in the world ? Did
you ever see one who, you thought, was perfectly
hopeless ?"
"No; I never saw one, but I suppose there arc
such unhappy beings."
" In the Siberian mines, for instance ?"
"Yes; poor wretches!" with a shudder. "There
must be many such among them. I never can think
of them without wondering how I or any one else
can ever be happy, knowing that there is such utter
misery in the world."
" But you are happy, are you not ?"
He asked precisely as if he did not know, for the
mere pleasure of hearing her say she was happy.
" Yes," penitently.
" Ah, you have a good heart, Madeline. I suppose
you wouldn't be happy if you could prevent it ; but
Nature is kinder to you than you would be to your-
210 A DEMIGOD.
self. She will not let yon think forever of human
Buffering. You are never very unhappy, are you ?"
"No; when I think of it, I am ashamed to ac
knowledge that I am not — that is — "
"Why -fore ashamed? You cannot help being
happy, any more than you can help being young and
healthy, and beautiful and good. You cannot make
yourself to be miserable because others are, just as
you cannot make yourself to be old or ill or ugly or
bad because others are. Why-fore do you grow so
rosy red? Is it because I said you were beautiful?
or is it because I said you were young and healthy
and good ?"
"You do not know how good I am," returned
Madeline, mischievously. " 1 may be very wicked,
for all you know."
" Oh no ; that is impossible"
"But how do you know? Some wicked people
appear very good indeed, Mr. Yyr."
"Not like you. Ila, ha! you may play with me,
but you cannot blind my eyes. They can look
through yours down into the pure little heaven of
your heart, as they see the blue heaven at the bot
tom of that lake." Then, pitying her confusion,
he added, more calmly and argumentatively, " If
you were wicked, Miss Paul, you could not be
happy."
"Why not?" she asked, quickly, still blushing and
with downcast eyes. " Did you not say that happi
ness was unreasoning, like health and youth ?"
" No, no !" with an energetic shake of his head.
GRIFFIN RETURNS. 211
" Wickedness is a disease that destroys happiness,
just as consumption destroys health and beauty."
Madeline's whole frame was still thrilling with
pleasure at his praises; but she retained coolness
enough to think of various peccadilloes she had com
mitted at one time and another during her nineteen
years of existence, and she cordially assented to his
last proposition. "But I do not agree with you,"
she said, after a little pause, " that happiness is such a
negative thing. It may be with birds and little chil
dren, but with grown-up people it is very different."
" You think hope has much to do with it, as well
as memory ?"
"Yes; particularly hope. Did you ever read
Pope's ' Essay on Man '.' "
" No ; I have never heard of it."
" Why, Mr. Yyr !" exclaimed Madeline, in great
surprise, " I thought you were a great reader."
A little impatient frown crossed his brow. lie
never forgot anything himself, and he could not un
derstand why others should forget. " I told you
long ago," he said, ''that I had only a few English
books and magazines. Is this book you name written
by Pius IX.?"
" Oh no," replied Madeline, a trifle coldly. " Pope
is the author's name, not his title. One of his most
famous lines is,
" 'Man never is, but always to be, blest.' "
" It is not a good line," said Yyr, shaking his head.
" He does not say what he means."
212 A DEMIGOD.
"Why, what does he mean?" Madeline asked, cu
riously.
" lie means that man thinks he is never blest."
" Oh, that is implied, of course."
"It should not be implied ; it should be said."
"Surely, Mr. Vyr," she cried, sitting bolt-upright
in the hammock, " you would not change the line —
you would ruin it utterly."
Vyr answered, gravely, " Men think more of what
they call beauty, wit, force, epigram, than they think
of truth."
"But there is no lack of truth here," persisted
Madeline, more and more astonished. "Everybody
understands exactly what it means."
" No, not quite, perhaps," he replied, thoughtfully.
" The spirit of the line is not good, not beneficent ;
it is cruel ; it does not help man to feel that he is
wrong in thinking that he is never blest — it rather
makes him feel that it is inevitable. It sounds like
an oracle of Fate — which is not the truth, Madeline ;
there is no such fate pronounced upon man. He
may be blessed to-day as well as in the future, if he
will. What does To-morrow owe him more than
To-day ? Will the sun be brighter ? the sky bluer ?
the fields and forests greener ? If his heart shall be
stouter, will it not also be heavier? If his head shall
be wiser, will it not also be more gray ? If his limbs
shall be stronger, will they not also be less nimble ?"
" But," returned Madeline, hesitatingly, " he hopes
for more than all this, Mr. Yyr. He looks for — well,
greater power, fame — and — and — "
GRIFFIN RETURNS. 213
"When he shall have attained all these, what
then f'
" Why, then he looks for still greater power and
fame."
Vyr shook his head again.
"If happiness depends on such things as these,
your poet's line ought surely to be changed," he
said.
"How?"
" ' Man never is, and never shall l)c, blest.' If
happiness depends on the things you have named, I
wish never to be happy, Miss Paul. I wish never to
be more renowned or more powerful, as men usually
reckon power, than I am now. I would like to be
even less widely known than I am. But it is not
true. I have been, I believe, one of the happiest of
men. I live, like a child or a bird, in To-day — in
every moment as it passes. Every sense, every fac
ulty is a channel through which enjoyment is ever
flowing in upon me. I love to walk, to run, even to
fajld" laughing. "I love to read, write, sing, talk,
listen, sleep, wake, and — animal that I am — to eat and
drink. I love to walk forth upon the mountains and
feast my eyes on the paradise which God has given
us; to stand on some lofty peak and feel the proud
consciousness of sovereignty over this luxuriant nat
ure ; to feel in my body and mind God's master
workmanship. I love to look at you, as you sit there
in your surpassing beauty, and think of you as the
crowning work of all. Nay, Madeline, do not turn
away from me. I have said that I live in the pres-
214 A DEMIGOD.
cut, that I do not depend for happiness on the hopes
which other men indulge. I do live in the present.
These days are the most glorious I have ever lived ;
this moment is to me the central point of time — an
existence in itself. But I live in the future, too.
Did I say hope was nothing to me ? Ah, it is every
thing. All the hopes which other men cherish are
as nothing compared with the blissful hope that has
sprung up in my soul. I have told you of things I
love to do. Best of all, I love to love. Best of all
things I love — above them all, more deeply than all
— I love you, Madeline Paul !"
He had risen from the ground, and now towered
over her, gazing upon her as if he would devour her
with his eyes. It is impossible to describe the in
tensity of passion with which his last words were ut
tered. His tones vibrated like those of some mighty
organ, his face seemed transfigured, while his power
ful frame was shaken as by some great agony.
Madeline had also risen, and now stood looking at
him, as it seemed to her, through a mist. His figure
became more and more shadowy, but his burning gaze
seemed to pierce deeper and deeper into her inmost
soul. Her lips opened, but her tongue littered no
words.
All at once she became conscious of another pres
ence. "With a great struggle she threw off the spell,
and beheld the face of Robert Griffin glaring upon
her!
It was not an idle freak of nature that had given
his features their forbidding form and color. The
IN THE STARLIGHT. 215
jester's mask was gone — utterly consumed, as it were,
by the scorching heat of those demoniac eyes.
]K> was standing in the path not twenty feet dis
tant. Madeline uttered a cry and fled towards the
house.
XVI.
IN THE STARLIGHT.
HECTOR VYR turned, and saw the intruder.
" ffourounif" he roared, " it was you that fright
ened her away ! I will tear you to atoms !"
lie sprang towards him like an enraged lion.
Griffin sprang too, and before his antagonist could
recover himself for another bound, he had deliberate
ly aimed a pistol at his heart.
Yyr neither spoke nor moved. Marins disarmed
iiii lissassin by the mesmerism of his gaze. Griilin
stood a few seconds looking into those terrible eyes.
Then his arm slowly sunk to his side.
" I did not intend to frighten her," he said, with
utterance abnormally distinct, from the very effort to
throw off the awe he felt creeping over him. u I did
not know what was in progress. I came back to join
my friends, and happened upon you by pure acci
dent—at a very inopportune moment, it seems."
Vyr held out both hands, while a smile broke out
over his face, like sudden sunshine through threaten
ing clouds. "Forgive me; I was a madman."
210 A DEMIGOD.
But Griffin drew back haughtily. " I cannot take
your hand, Mr. Vyr," he said.
"Why-fore not?" Vyr asked, with innocent sur
prise. " Are you afraid of it ? I made a mistake.
It will not hurt you now."
Griffin's only reply was a scornful smile and a sig
nificant little wave of his pistol.
As if by a stroke of lightning, the weapon was
torn from his grasp and hurled far over the tree-
tops, exploding as it fell.
"When 1 play with a serpent," said Vyr, into
whose face a calmer, deeper wrath had come, "I
first pluck out his sting."
Griffin stared blankly at his benumbed fingers, then
at Vyr. " You are very quick," he said, at length ;
" you can overmatch me ; but you cannot make peace
with me. I love that lady, Mr. Vyr, as well as your
self."
" Does she love you ?"
"I — I — have, at least, as good reason for hope as
you, sir ; and I have a prior claim. I have known
her almost from a child, while it is only a few days
since you knew that such a being existed."
" There is truth in that what you say. But this
is a matter in which there is no prior claim. Miss
Paul herself shall decide between you and me."
" She is in no respect suited to you," retorted Grif
fin, angrily. " You have no right to ask her to aban
don her own country and kindred, the friends of her
lifetime, the comforts and refinements of civilization,
to share your savage life in this wilderness."
IN THE STARLIGHT. 217
For a while Vyr did not answer. The rich, dark
bloom faded from his check, and it was with a strange
faltering in his voice that he finally said,
" I have, at least, the right to ask. She lias the
right to accept or refuse, as her own heart shall dic
tate."
"And so," cried Griffin, following up his advan
tage with merciless vindictiveness, "you would
shamelessly accept the romantic fancy which the
poor young creature may have conceived for your —
your barbarous physical strength and prowess, and
your still more barbarous habits of life, and call it
love ! You would take advantage of this silly fancy,
I say, to allure her to a step she would bitterly re
gret when she came to her senses ! You would really
marry her, would you, Hector Vyr ? You, a non
descript mountain hermit, and she a tender flower of
civilization ! Faugh !"
He saw with malicious joy that his bitter words
were producing an effect, and the consciousness gave
new fertility to his brain and fluency to his tongue.
But the calm, white face did not reveal with how
terrible a power his blows fell upon that great, sim
ple heart. For a few moments Vyr remained silent,
then his face lifted with a look of sublime resigna
tion, as he said in low, humble tones,
"Mr. Griftin, i have done to you a very great
wrong. I believed in my heart that you were only
a shallow trifler, with no soul above your little jests.
I knew that you loved Miss Paul ; but I also knew
that she did not return your love, and I believed you
218 A DEMIGOD.
were unsuited to her, as you say / am unsuited to
her. I find that I made a mistake. I find you a
man of thought and earnestness. Perhaps you are
even capable of — no, I cannot believe that. Tell me,
Robert Griffin, is it true that she would be unhappy
here? Are her home and her friends, the excite
ments of society, so necessary to her that nothing can
take their places ? Tell me," he repeated, his whole
soul in his adjuration, " do you really believe this in
your secret heart ?"
The incredible simplicity that would ask such a
question, at such a time, of him, brought a con
temptuous smile upon Griffin's face. " Believe it ?"
he replied, with the careless insolence he would have
assumed to an inferior whose anger he despised—
" why, of course I believe it."
But Robert Griffin judged from his ordinary ex
perience in the world, where such simplicity is usu
ally the result of mere obtuseness of intellect. He
could not understand that in this case it sprang from
a grandeur of soul that, for the moment, was willing
to accept even him as a peer. He was instantly un
deceived.
" Go !" said Yyr, waving his hand with utter loath
ing. " Why-fore do I stoop to talk words with you ?
I thought you were a man. You have the tongue of
a man, but the soul of a lizard !"
Without deigning another look at the dazed face
of him he thus spurned, he strode majestically away.
Griffin had seen the best tragedians of his day, and
had himself no mean skill at tragic impersonation,
IN THE STARLIGHT. 219
for which his peculiar physiognomy admirably fitted
him ; but never in his life before had he conceived
of the wonderful capabilities of the human voice and
countenance. He knew well that much of his own
short-lived power over his rival had been due to his
excellent elocution ; he knew also that in one un
guarded moment he had betrayed himself, that in
that moment his rival had seen through his flimsy
heroics. He felt that the tremendous outburst of
scorn which had followed the discovery was gen
uine — that the man, powerful and mature as he
was, was as incapable of mere acting as a child ;
and this consciousness left him gazing, like one
paralyzed, at the tall retreating figure, whose very
back seemed to dart upon him arrows of con
tempt.
When Yyr had vanished behind the trees, Griffin
shook himself, drew7 in a long breath, and expelled it
again in a series of blasphemous ejaculations expres
sive of wonder, self-reproach, and hatred for his for
midable rival. He then went to look for his revolver,
which he found at a marvellous distance from the
spot whence it had been thrown. It had fallen upon
a rock, and was ruined past repair. Spurning it with
another fierce oath, he walked straight to the door of
the house, and haughtily demanded to 'see his rela
tives. His uncle greeted him cordially, and asked
what in the name of the Old Black Coal-heaver he
had gone away for, and where he had been. Deign
ing no reply to these questions, Griffin angrily in
quired if his uncle was aware how far matters had
220 A DEMIGOD.
advanced between Madeline and their host, and with
out a pause proceeded to a lurid description of the
scene he had just witnessed.
The major listened patiently till he had finished ;
then, laying his hand on his nephew's arm, he said,
with tender deliberation, "Robert, my poor boy, I
have been expecting some such thing as this."
" Oh, you have, have you ?" retorted Griffin, recoil
ing and growing white. "And I suppose you have
been hoping for it, too ?"
" No, not exactly that. I have simply felt that I
could not prevent it."
" Prevent it !" with a passionate oath. " Of course
you could prevent it if you had wanted to. Why
the devil didn't you take her away, as I asked you
to so many times ?"
" What, against his wishes? You couldn't expect
me to do that, Robert. Have you forgotten what
obligations we are all under to him ?"
" So, to pay the debt, you are willing to sacrifice
your own daughter, whom you have pretended to
love so tenderly !"
" What's that you say, you young — " began the
major, blazing up. But he instantly calmed down
again. " I'll stand anything in reason from you,
Robert, because I pity you from my soul ; but I want
you to understand there's going to be no sacrifice of
my Madeline to Vyr, or you, or anybody else. She's
to be absolutely free to choose for herself. I've
promised her that, and I'll be as good as my word.
She's got a level head as well as a heart of gold.
IX THE STARLIGHT. 221
She'll never be such a fool as to imprison herself
among these howling mountain caves — I'll trust her
for that. If she's influence enough over this Hector
Yyr to draw him out of his hermitage and lead him
captive to Boston, she may do it without any inter
ference from me. If she hasn't, there'll be the end
of it. Mark my words, Robert Griffin, she'd never
bury herself here for Jupiter Ammon himself ! — nei
ther you nor I need fear any such result. In any
event, I shall never forget my debt to this man, or
Madeline's either ; and if he really wants her for his
wife, the very least he is entitled to is a fair chance
to win her if he can. Don't you see that's only right,
my dear fellow C in a softer tone, again laying his
hand on Griffin's arm. " You've as fair a chance as
he, haven't you ?"
Utterly beside himself with rage, Griffin snatch
ed his arm away. " You talk, you old hypocrite !
Didn't you try to get me out of the way, so that he
might have the field to himself 2"
Up flew the major's ready fist. His reckless neph
ew would have measured his length upon the floor
if he had not adroitly slipped aside. Instant con
sciousness of his folly flashed into his brain. " I take
it back, Uncle Warren, I take it back," he whined.
" I did not know what I was saying."
" Yes, you did, you insulting puppy !" bellowed
the major, furiously, "and you knew it was a villan-
ous lie ! I told you to go or stay, as you pleased, and
I advised you to stay."
If this had been their first stormy quarrel, it would
222 A DEMIGOD.
without doubt have been irreparable ; but mere words
were too cheap witli both to be fatal. Even if the
major's anger had not been habitually short-lived,
pity for his unhappy kinsman would soon have
quenched it ; and as for Griffin, his returning pru
dence had already supplanted his exceedingly impol
itic rage.
A partial reconciliation took place, therefore, after
which Griffin dashed away to find Madeline. From
Miss Wellington, whose eager questions he contempt
uously thrust aside, he learned that she had taken
refuge in her room. lie flew up-stairs, and listened
at her door. No sound. He rapped gently. A la
bored breathing, and a rustle as of some one rising
from the bed.
"Madeline," he said, in a tone but little above a
whisper, " will you not see me ?"
" Oh, Robert," came through the door, " please go
away !"
" If I do," in a louder tone, " it will be forever."
"But I — I can't come now; I am utterly ex
hausted."
" Good-by, then. Remember, it \sforever"
"No, no! I will come." The door was unlocked,
and she stepped forth, her cheeks burning, her hair
unbound and enveloping her shoulders and waist
like a brown mantle. " Why are you so cruel 2" she
asked. " Could you not wait till — "
" Till you were lost to me forever ?" he burst forth
— " till you had bound yourself like a slave to this
monstrous — "
IN THE STARLIGHT. 223
She threw up her hands as if to ward off a blow.
" I can never be more lost to you than now," she
cried, passionately. "No one could treat me more
like a slave than you ; no one could be more unjust,
more insulting to — to — one who merits only your
life-long gratitude. lie has done you no harm, Rob
ert ; I have never changed my mind for a moment,
and I never shall. I cannot tell you how sorry I am
for you — but go away now; wait till we are both
calmer, at least."
" And give you up ? — leave you to drag out your
days in this solitude with that mountain demon ?"
"Don't insult him any more to me!" she retorted,
her hot cheek growing suddenly cold and white.
" Go to him if you dare. He could strike you dead
with one sweep of his hand ; but he wouldn't — no,
he wouldn't stoop to harm you. He is not a mount
ain demon, he is a mountain god !"
" Yes, you poor, silly, romantic child, I know you
think so. And you think you love him, do you ? A
fashionable young lady of Boston, only a little while
out of boarding-school, daughter of a Yankee store
keeper, in love with a god!" Words cannot de
scribe the stinging sarcasm with which he flung this
at her.
But she was impervious. " Yes," she replied,
drawing up her tall, slight h'gure ; " imperfect and
weak as I am, I love him !"
" Then listen to me, Madeline Paul. You say he
could strike me dead. Imperfect and weak as I am,
and god as he is, I'll strike hint, dead !"
15
224 A DEMIGOD.
With this menace on his lips, he vanished from be
fore her horror-stricken eyes.
For a long minute she stood motionless as he had
left her. Then, without knowing how, she was at the
bottom of the stairs and in the path in swift pursuit.
" Yon need not follow me !" he shouted back. " I
shall bide my time !"
She knew the sentinel on guard had orders to al
low any of Major Paul's party to cross and recross
the narrow bridge at pleasure. She called to him,
but before he could understand the meaning of her
frantic words and gestures, Griffin was safely over
the chasm and out of sight. She darted back to the
house, and tried to find her father. He, too, had
disappeared. No one was there but Madame Vyr.
Knowing, even in her terror, that it would be worse
than useless to alarm her, she ran with might and
main towards a field where she had sometimes seen
Vyr at work with his men. He was nowhere to be
seen. Gradually she became calmer. Robert had
only meant to frighten her. It was not possible that
lie really meant to carry out his murderous threat.
At any rate, there was no immediate danger, and she
would have ample time to warn her lover. Once on
his guard, what had she to fear for him who had so
long defied the combined skill and treachery of the
klephts? She would not even distress her friends
with the fearful tale ; for if, as she became more and
more convinced, Robert was only playing upon her
fears, how glad she would always be that she had
kept her own counsel.
IX THE STARLIGHT. 225
The afternoon waned ; the supper-hour came — but
not the master of the table. His mother would not
wait for him ; for, she said, his meal-times were as
regular as the rising and setting of the sun, and she
knew he was at supper elsewhere. As the evening
passed, and still he did not corne, Madeline's terror
by degrees returned in full power. She could not
sit with the family, but went and paced to and fro
upon the veranda. What if the threat had already
been carried into execution ? As the thought took
full possession of her mind, blanching her cheeks and
lips, she turned to fly, she knew not where — to her
father, to implore him to go forth with her into the
darkness and search for him — to Madame Yyr, to
alarm the servants and the people in the valleys
— somewhere, everywhere — to do something, every
thing, to prevent a catastrophe which seemed to her
the destruction of the flower and glory of the world.
But before she could act on any of her frenzied im
pulses, she heard quick, firm steps approaching, and
in another moment Hector Yyr ran up the steps.
With an inarticulate cry she made a movement
towards him, and sank trembling into a chair.
He knelt beside her, and seizing her hand, pressed
it with his lips. "You have been waiting — watch
ing for me?" he said in a low voice, that thrilled her
through and through. " You have been waiting here
to tell me that you return my love ? My soul blesses
you, bows in adoration before you. Until now I
thought myself blest above my race ; I thought my
earth was fairer than other men's, my skies brighter;
226 A DEMIGOD.
but you have brought me a new heaven and a new
earth. You have made my past life seem a waste of
loneliness and selfishness, and have opened before me
the gates of paradise."
" I — I have been watching for you," began Made
line, in weak, tremulous tones ; " because I was afraid
that — Oh," with a sudden outburst of joy and love
— " oh, thank Heaven, you are alive — alive and un
harmed ! He said he would strike you dead !"
Yyr clasped both her hands, and laughed in an ec
stasy of mingled tenderness and amusement. " Let
not your woman's heart be troubled," he said. " Shall
I fear the threatenings of a jester, who, though he
speaks terrible words, has not courage to use the
weapons he bears? He is as shallow in his boasting
as in his jesting. If I did not pity his hopeless love
for you, my own beautiful one, I should only laugh
at him."
" Ah, he is not jesting now," replied Madeline,
raising her head and timidly touching with her hand
one of the short curling locks on his temple. " lie
is terribly in earnest. Oh, I have been trembling for
you — you were gone so long."
" 0 T/teos nd se euloyese!" * lie exclaimed, fervent
ly. " You shall tremble no more. Consider, my dar
ling one— I am accustomed to far more dangerous
enemies than he is, men not only more reckless but
skilled — as he certainly is not — in hunting down their
victims. Have no fear in your heart, Madeline — if
* God bless you !
IN THE STARLIGHT. 337
lie ventures to attack me, I will scare him away with
a look."
" If he should attack you openly, I should not fear
— at least for you. lie is my cousin, poor Robert !
I cannot believe he would be so vile a coward as to —
But, then, that fearful threat! And when you go.
away, as you have done to-day, and are gone so long —
" My eyes are always open wide when I walk. I
know all the hiding-places here, as you know the
dwelling-houses in the street where you live. My
ears are trained to hear sounds when to you there
would be unbroken silence. Shall I tell to you why-
fore I was gone so long? I have been fighting —
no," with a laugh, as she started up — " not with the
klephts, nor with /tun, but with myself. I told you
of my love too soon. It burst from my lips, because
my heart could not keep it imprisoned. I have been
punishing myself for my too great haste, for my self
ishness, in asking you to turn your back on the coun
try of your birth, on your father, who has cherished
you from your babyhood, your mother's grave, your
friends who love you so well and whom you love,
the pleasures and refinements to which you have all
your life been accustomed — to turn your back on
all these, and live with me in this solitude — grand,
glorious, filled with things which satisfy my mother
and me, but still a solitude. 'What right have I,' I
asked myself, ' even if she were willing, to transplant
this tender flower, that has grown and bloomed in a
sheltered garden in the midst of palaces, to even a
paradise of uncultivated nature?'
228 A DEMIGOD.
" Then I answered to myself, ' But I love her with
a love i m measurably greater than the love of father
and friends. I will reconcile her to the loss of other
society by an affection which shall always absorb her
whole heart and soul ; I will make her to forget those
pleasures she leaves, by filling all her moments with
greater pleasures than she ever dreamed. For the
home she abandons, she shall have one fashioned af
ter her own wildest fancy. If my wealth is not great
enough, cannot I increase it as I will ? And it shall
awake in me a sweet ambition I have never yet felt
to enthrone my peerless queen in a palace of her
own devising.'
" I thought, too, of my mother ; how she had left
home and kindred and position — all I should ask you
to leave — for this same mountain home ; and yet how
she was supremely blest — until," lowering his voice,
" that dark hour, Madeline, that I have told you of."
A sudden trembling seized her, and he felt, rath
er than saw, that her face had grown white in the
bright starlight.
"I read your thought, my tender-hearted love,"
throwing his arm around her, as if to protect her
from her own fancies. "I thought of this in my
struggle with myself to-day. She is not accustomed,
I said, to ever-present dangers, as I am. But she shall
grow stronger; she shall learn to laugh at fears of
evils that may never come, as she now laughs at old
nurses' tales to children. Yes, my Madeline, I thought
of everything, and I resolved to say to you no more
of love until you had smiled upon the confession that
IX THE STARLIGHT. 229
came unbidden from my lips. You waited for me
here ; your sweet soul was turn with fears for my
safety ; you love me : and here I lay myself, my love,
my hopes, my promises, at your feet."
Madeline uttered no word, but her eyes, in which
the starlight seemed condensed to soft, liquid fire,
remained fixed on his till he had finished speaking.
For a while longer she continued silent, hearing only
the throbbing in her own breast. At length she
spoke :
''It seems to me like a wonderful dream. I feel
as if I had been lifted from earth into a gorgeous
cloud-land. Nothing is real to me but 3-011, my hap
piness, and my love. Can it be only four short weeks
since my friends and I were trembling for our lives (
It seems as if I had known you for years.''
"And loved me f
"I think I must have loved you from the first,
though I did not know it. I thought it was only
gratitude, wonder, admiration for one who made all
other men seem like pygmies. I thought no more
of loving you than of loving the sun. What was
poor little I to dream of such a thing ? But my
fancy created a being suited to you, a creature who
should match your splendor with beauty more daz
zling and nature more lovely than poet ever imag
ined. Ah, Mr. Vyr, what an enchanting idyl I have
been weaving ! Is it not a pity that it should be
spoiled ? that this resplendent creature of my fancy
should be supplanted in your heart and by your side
by a commonplace, fashionable Boston girl ?"
230 A DEMIGOD.
She looked up with a half-doubting, half-roguish
smile, and was going on in the same strain, remind
ing him of his oath, when he suddenly smothered her
voluble self -depreciation with kisses, protesting in
the intervals that she was the one above all others
who would enable him most gloriously to fulfil his
oath ; that no creature of her fancy could equal her
self ; that he would listen to no more hyperbole in re
gard to himself; that he was no sun, nor god, nor
demigod, nor anything of the sort, but only a 'man
with a sound head, body, and heart, who had simply
taken good honest care of himself, as his ancestors
had done before him, and who, thank Heaven, had
now one whom he loved far better than himself to
care for.
Thus they communed together, till the old moon,
rising above the black ^Egean, seemed to glorify
their love with her radiant benediction.
XVII.
THE LABORATORY.
IN the morning Yyr and Madeline went up the
cliff to see the sunrise. It was not the first time they
had together witnessed the grand spectacle ; but there
was now an inward glory that shone forth and mag
nified the outer glories tenfold. The mists of night
had not yet fled : each summit was crowned with a
THE LABORATORY. 331
halo that gradually took on the cool blush of morn
ing, while the deep valleys .seemed to awake, one by
one, refreshed and smiling from their dreamless sleep
As the "silver-orbed chariot'' leaped above the sea,
turning the purple clouds to many -colored flames,
Madeline clasped her hands in an ecstasy of admira
tion. But neither spoke until the pageant had some
what faded. Then said Vyr,
"/Sic transit gloria mundi"
" AVhy must it be so ?" responded Madeline. " Why
must the greatest glory always be the most tran
sient 2"
"It passes away, but only to return."
"And will it be so forever f Will the last sunrise
of all never come ?"
" I suppose it will," answered Vyr, smiling —
"neither sun nor earth is immortal."
" Is it not a terrible thought that all life and beauty
must perish, that all the lights in the firmament must
be put out, that the universe must at last be one vast
sepulchre V
u Xay, that will never be. The universe shall
never die utterly. When the time comes of which
you speak, One shall say, ' It is not dead, but sleep-
etli.' Then lie shall stretch forth His hand — ' I say
unto thee, arise!' And from Him there shall pro
ceed virtue. The streams of force and life that have
sunk to their lowest level shall again be lifted to their
sources ; the great heart of nature that has expanded
shall again contract : the night shall pass, and a ne\v
day shall dawn,"
£32 A DEMIGOD.
" Oh, what a glorious prophecy !" exclaimed Made
line, her face glowing anew.
" I cannot believe otherwise. ' In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth ;' but they
were not i\\Q first heavens nor the first earth; they
are but the last of an infinite series, as to-day has
come after millions of yesterdays. Neither shall they
be the last : there shall come endless to-morrows.
God never has been idle ; he never will be idle ; it
is Brahma, not God, who sleeps."
"Oh, if this were only science, instead of a beauti
ful speculation !" sighed Madeline.
"Stubborn science will not read all the pages nat
ure has written. Look at that carob-trec. It was
once a little germ ; it has grown to its maturity ; it
will decline and die. Will there be no more trees?
Yes ; it has sown its seed. One great law pervades
all nature: birth, growth, decline, death, reproduc
tion. The law governs every organism, from the
monad to man — from man to the universe !"
As he stood erect, overlooking the vast amphi
theatre, he seemed indeed a prophet reading to the
mountains, valleys, and seas their destiny.
After breakfast the lovers went forth to renew
their communion with nature and with each other.
They threaded labyrinths, explored caves, and crept
under cascades. No wonder the ancient Greeks were
an imaginative race. They could not but people their
mountains with oreads, their seas with tritons, their
woodlands with dryads, their caves with satyrs. Amid
THE LABORATORY. 233
those wild, poetic scenes. Hector Vyr was more than
ever a god to Madeline ; she to him more than ever a
goddess.
Passing through a little clump of carob-trees, they
found themselves in the midst of a blaze of rhodo
dendrons. Beyond were the remains of an old Spar
tan wall, built in two courses of hewn stone, and
filled in between with the fragments. It was in a
good state of preservation, though nearly concealed
by ivy and thorn- bush. From the parapet they looked
down a precipitous descent, which even without the
wall would have rendered the height well-nigh inac
cessible.
" My home was one of the Lacedemonian fortress
es,'' said Vyr. " History does not mention it, but I
have no doubt if these walls could speak they could
tell as stirring a tale as old Ithome. You see how
this side is protected. On the north and cast are im
passable ridges ; on the south the only approach is
by my log-bridge."
"It is fortunate for the country that you are in
trenched here instead of the klephts," said Made
line.
They followed the wall until they overlooked a
beautiful little valley with a stream running through
it. By the side of the stream stood a low, nonde
script building of stone surmounted by a tall chim
ney. Madeline asked what it could be.
" That," replied Vyr, " is my chemical laboratory .*r
" Oh yes. Papa told me of your scientific as well!
as literary labors: how you wrote books and made
234 A DEMIGOD.
discoveries for your own private pleasure and benefit,
without hope or desire of other reward, either in
fame or fortune. But he told me that your books
were written only in your head, and I didn't know
but— but—"
" That my scientific experiments were performed
there, too ?" asked Yyr, laughing. " No, I should
scarcely be as cool-headed as I try to be, if I should
admit nitric acid and electric fire into that labora
tory."
That Hector Yyr should condescend to be funny,
as any one else would have been in like circumstances,
seemed strange to Madeline, but no more strange than
delightful. She laughed merrily, but protested that
her idea was not so absurd after all. She thought, of
course, that he could make discoveries without the
slow and tedious labor of experimenting — tlmt was
what other men were obliged to do.
"My beloved," he replied, gravely, " I hope you
are speaking only in jest."
" Not entirely," she said, looking up with ingenu
ous homage into his eyes ; " I really did think some
thing of the sort. You are not like other men, you
know."
" Yes, Madeline, in all respects except that I have
tried to obey the laws of my being as other men
usually do not. It troubles me to hear you speak as
if I were otherwise, even in play ; to hear you speak,
as you sometimes do, as if I were a sort of unnatural
prodigy. You seem to me the perfection of nature
— the very goal towards which I am striving — and it
THE LABORATORY. 235
raise- :i barrier between us when you attribute to me
qualities and degrees I do not possess. I am no An-
tyropodaimon, although it suits my purpose that my
enemies should deceive themselves with that super
stition. I wish you to look upon me, as I look upon
you, as a part of what is to be a harmonious whole.
Let there be no barrier between us, my loved one,
nothing to prevent our mingling heart with heart in
perfect unconstraint."
"There is no barrier between us, Hector," replied
Madeline, laying both her hands in his, while her up
turned face shone with the perfect love which cast-
eth out fear.
After a while they returned to the subject of the
laboratory. " There are few discoveries without ex
periment," said Yyr. "Nature does not reveal her
mysteries except to the patient, persevering question
er. The ancient philosophers trusted to theory and
conjecture, and so they drifted apart from pole to
pole ; but to-day we put our questions to Xature her
self, and we do not let her rest until she says yea or
nay.
*' "Will you go into the laboratory and see the
wrecks which my failures have left <"
"Failures? do you ever fail f
*• A hundred times where I succeed once."
Madeline was astonished, but glad. An Ant/tro-
podaimon would never fail.
There were broken retorts and galvanic cells lined
with many-colored incrustations, blow-pipes, cupels,
dialyzers, meters of all kinds — all the paraphernalia
230 A DEMIGOD.
of a chemist's workshop, which showed in what
manner many, man}' hours of the recluse's life had
been spent. At the base of the tall chimney was a
large furnace of strange-looking material and elabo
rate construction.
" I suppose you have a very hot fire here some
times," remarked Madeline.
" So hot that no unprotected eyes could endure its
brilliancy."
"Pray how do you make it so hot? Oh, you
needn't hesitate to explain it to me," she added,
laughing ; " I am a graduate of a Boston school, you
know. A Boston school-girl is supposed to know all
about protoplasm and differentiation, all about cen
tral forces, the possible utilization of one hundred
per cent, of molecular energy, and all such matters."
lie regarded her in amused astonishment. "Ah,"
he said, at length, "you are going to surprise me
more than I have been able to surprise you."
" Oh no, I can only talk, which is very different
from doing. Please go on ; how do you make your
fire so hot?"
" It is very easy. You have only to seize the oxy
gen at the instant of its evolution from a compound
in which it is abundant, and cause it to combine at
that instant with its exact equivalent of hydrogen in
the same nascent state. In the ordinary oxhydrogen
flame both elements have assumed their quiescent
state before combustion, which, of course, immense
ly reduces the energy of re-combination."
" Yes ; I understand perfectly. That is the ideal
THE LABORATORY. 237
heat-producing flame. Oh, you have no idea what a
chemist I am — in theory."
"That is the flame I make in that furnace. As
the heat grows more and more intense, of course the
energy of combination is proportionately intensified,
and so it goes on increasing its own power almost
without limit. This device for continually and en
tirely removing the waste products of combustion is
mine. The clay of which the fire-box is made only
grows harder and harder. I know not how intense
a heat would be required to fuse or vaporize it.
This is the baker's cap I wear when I work here."
He took a kind of helmet from a hook, and drew
it down over his head, face, and neck — the eyes be
ing protected by thick, apparently opaque circles of
glass.
" And what sort of cakes do you bake ?" asked
Madeline.
" A great many kinds," he replied, after removing
the helmet; "some useful, some beautiful, some only
curious, but the greater part absolutely worthless. I
will show you the last — what do bakers say f '
"Batch?"
" Yes, batch. It is, as you will see, both curious
and beautiful. Look at this fine black powder. I
wished to see if it could be crystallized. I enclosed
some of it in a crucible of that same fire-clay, and
subjected it for ten hours to the most intense heat I
could produce. On opening the crucible, I saw that
the contents had fused, but had solidified again into
a soft, spongy mass no more crystalline than at first.
238 A DEMIGOD.
I tried over and over again, modifying the experi
ment in every conceivable way. I found, at length,
the trouble. I had allowed the liquid to cool too
rapidly. It requires a much longer time to build up
the delicate structure of this crystal than that of any
other. 1 allowed my fire to cool only a few degrees
a day. My servants relieved each other in watching
it night and day for many long, anxious weeks. At
last the supreme moment arrived — I broke the cru
cible ! I will show you the result."
He unlocked the heavy iron door of a vault that
stood in the centre of the room, displaying two rows
of shelves covered with boxes, bottles, and indescrib
able objects in great variety. Taking out one of the
boxes, he showed her a collection of crystals, large
and small, whose peculiar brilliancy caused her to
look at him in wondering inquiry.
" Yes," he smiled, in answer to her look.
" The black powder was —
" Pure carbon."
"And these are diamonds?"
" Pure and without flaw."
" But — but — " she replied, breathlessly, " you said
they were only curious and beautiful. Why — they
are a fortune — an enormous fortune !"
" To sell ? yes, I suppose so. But they will never
be sold. If men would only admire and enjoy their
beauty, I should be glad to let them go ; but men
would, in the first place, give for them millions of
times their real value, and then they would perhaps
lie, plot, fight, murder for them. Why-fore should
THE SERPENT UISSES. 239
I sell these pretty pebbles or give them away ?
Their practical usefulness is very slight. Their
beauty is great, it is true, but not great enough to
compensate for the mischief they would cause. I
will not sell them. I should be like the man of civ
ilization who takes from the poor, simple savages
their ivory and their furs, and gives them only a few
glittering, worthless beads in return. Neither shall
1 give them a-vay ; I will not open this Pandora's
box to the world. They shall remain for the pres
ent on my shelf, a shining trophy of my victory over
nature. When you are all my own, it will not be a
gift to you, it will be only conferring upon you your
riyht to place these and all else I have in your keep
ing. Ah, you are a woman !" he added, laughing, as
she clasped her hands together in uncontrollable de
light. " Your eyes are brighter than these worthless
pdbbles. But, remember, iny beautiful one, you are
not to be Pandora I"
XY1II.
THE SERPENT HISSES.
IF we have forgotten poor Tsaras, his late com
panions in misfortune had not. Many were the
speculations as to his probable fate. Sometimes they
were inclined to the opinion that he had dealt treach
erously with them. Several little circumstances, be
sides the suspicious exchange of glances between him
L6
240 A DEMIGOD.
and Peschino which Madeline had observed during
O
lier " examination," seemed to point tliat way. Gen
erally, however, they were disposed to believe that
these circumstances were merely fortuitous and with
out significance, and they blamed themselves for ever
harboring ungenerous doubts of his honor and fidel
ity. It must not be supposed that their solicitude or
that of their host concerning him was manifest in
mere speculations. Strange as it may appear to in
habitants of well-ordered America, there was little
greater difficulty in communicating with the brigands
than with the most law-abiding citizens of that
anomalous country. Letters passed to and fro under
a sort of postal system skilfully contrived to secure
absolute safety to the outlaws. Offers were made to
release the remaining prisoner upon terms which Vyr
would not allow the major to accept. " I have made
a vow," he said to him, on one occasion, " that, if I
can prevent it, the klephts shall never receive a
drachma of ransom. I will try again to rescue your
friend ; but I really do not believe he is with them.
My men, who, as you know, have been always on the
watch near their den ever since you came here, have
never seen such a person as you describe. They have
either released him already, or they have taken him
so far away that it is hopeless to try to rescue him by
force. You may be assured that they will riot harm
him before the time they have appointed ; and that
is far enough away at present. If, when that time
conies, it is your choice to pay to them what they de
mand, why, I suppose I cannot prevent you. I sup-
THE SERPENT HISSES. 241
pose I should do the same if I were you, and in your
situation. But,'' he added, resolutely, " it is i\i\& final
i/i,'l<lhifj that does all the mischief. If the friends
of the first captives had let them die rather than
yield, brigandage would have been strangled in its
birth, and those martyrs would have done Greece
more good than Zaimis, with all his Greek and Ba
varian troops."
At last all doubt and solicitude were set at rest in
a very unexpected manner.
One day, shortly after dinner, the three Americans
were seated by themselves on the veranda, when they
saw a well-known figure climbing up the steep ascent,
accompanied by one of the bridge guards.
"Consultation of the United States!" exclaimed
the major, "it's old Tsiiras himself!" and he ran
down to meet him with out-stretched hands. "What
—where in the name of Jupiter Jones did you come
from? How did you get away from those hell-
vomited rattlesnakes?"
The little professor's reception of this effusive
greeting was remarkably cool, considering the cir
cumstances. " Monsieur Paul," he said, with stately
Greek politeness, " I am mos' happee that I mit you
once more again as a free man. I will give to you
the explanation of myself when I shall see my other
friends, the companions of my captivitee. Ah, mes-
dames," as they came tripping and stumbling, but
with beaming faces, down the slope, "permiss me
that I shall congratulate you. You see," turning
back to the major, "that 1 have not lead you into
242 A DEMIGOD.
those ' hell-of-scraape,' as you have say to me, after
all."
The unblushing impudence with which he thus
accredited himself with the results of Hector Vyr's
prowess somewhat cooled their enthusiasm. " Never
mind that now," the major replied, " tell us how you
fared after we left you ; how you managed to make
your escape, and all about it."
"After you lef me — aah, Monsieur Paul, your
eyes did not turn ba,ck one little look for poor
Tearas!"
" Oh, come now, professor, you couldn't expect —
why weren't you with us, as you ought to have been ?
Why" — here his voice grew harsher, and his face
more red — " why had you been systematically cutting
us for a week at a time ? hey ?"
" 0 Thcemou!" cried Tsaras, raising his hands in
indignant remonstrance, " that is one mos' horrible
slander ! I have never cut you one little scrratch !"
"Nonsense. I mean why did you avoid us — run
away from us ?"
" Oh, aah — not cut you with knaifes?"
" Certainly not."
"But — what for did you have suspicion for me,
Monsieur Paul ? eh ?"
" Who told you that ?" the major asked, sharply.
" Youvfaaces have tell me — your eyes, which look
at me under the brow. I am not a chorikos of the
ground ; I am a man of educaation with honorable
proudness, Monsieur Paul. I know ver' well what
you thing of me : you thing I was maiike barrgain
THE SERPENT HISSES. 243
with Peschino. Aali, it was mos' horrible, unjus'
suspicion !"
The proud, manly way in which the olive check
flushed and the graceful little figure straightened up,
extorted from the Americans a deeper respect than
they had ever yet felt for their late guide.
Major Paul hastened to propitiate him : u I don't
think, my dear sir, that we ever gave you any real
occasion for — •"
" Aah, yeas. The faiice spik more plain as the
tongue. 1 shall tell to you the whole truth. I
perrcive that Peschino was fascinaiite with beauti
ful Miss Paul. If she shall smaile a little, she can
maiike him one fool, and he shall let us all to
go. So I spik to him privaiite a little encourage
ment."
"Then," said Madeline, with scornful, flashing
eyes, " what did you mean by accusing us of unjust
suspicion ?"
" Pardon, kurdtza — you shall wait till I have fin
ish. I say you can maiike him one gretfod. It is
not dishonor when you shall cheat the klepht which
try to rob you."
" Right, by Jupiter Johnson !" put in the major.
" Give us your hand, old dragon " — his habitual short
for dragoman. " Now go on with your story. How
did you escape ?"
" I cannot tell the stoary to you. I have maiike
one mos' saiicred promise that I — You know, my
friends, when they loses the big fishes, they throw
away the little fishes sometaime."
244 A DEMIGOD.
A quick glance shot from eye to eye among his
auditors.
"Aah" — straightening up again — "yon have sus
picion. I shall not talk to you. I have come to
bring one mos' important commission to Monsieur
Hector Vyr. Will you have the kaindhood to tell
to me where I shall i'aind him?"
" Go 11 j) on the veranda, sir," replied the major,
haughtily, "and take a seat there. Madeline, go and
find Mr. Vyr."
When she had gone, Tsaras, with -increasing digni
ty, took from his pocket a paper, and presented it to
Major Paul. "Will you faiivor it with examinaii-
tion, Monsieur Paul ?"
It was his account to date for services as guide
and interpreter. The major gazed upon it and upon
Tsaras for a moment in speechless amazement. "I
should think, sir," he said, when lie could recover his
breath, " that you would, at least, have waited until
you had conducted us safely back to Athens before
you had the audacity to give me this."
"Pardon" — with a low bow — "it was the agree-
o
ment that you shall pay to me every wik. It is
now — "
"Why, contaminate your insolence, you bowing,
scraping Greek harlequin ! what do you mean ? You
lead us into the lions' den, and then bring in your
uur
"You shall not forget that / fall in the laions'
den too, also," retorted Tsaras.
The major was so choked by his disgust and choler
THE SEHPENT HISSES. 045
at this absurd rejoinder, that lie could only grow
inoiv red in the face and wildly gesticulate.
I!ut Miss Wellington spoke for him: "You de
serve to stay there, sir, for attempting so dangerous
an undertaking, knowing as you must your utter in
competence. If you were willing to risk your own
life, you had no right to risk ours."
AVhile Tsdras was replying in his characteristic
way, his eyes fell upon a tall, majestic figure stand
ing upon the veranda. "Aah!" he cried, suddenly
breaking off his specious argument, "at las' I see the
wond'ful Hector Vyr! Is not he what I have tell
you? is not he prodigce ? iniriclel Monsieur Paul,
you shall make the introductions."
Tsiiras was received with the forbidding digni
ty, almost rudeness, with which the singular ascetic
treated all intruding strangers. The rebuff was in
tensely galling to the sensitive little Greek. lie col
ored, bit his lips, shuffled from side to side, but pres
ently plucked up spirit and ceremoniously presented
a letter.
"I have intruded upon you," lie said, in his own
language, " not on my own account, but because I
was sent to you by a person whom I believe you
know. Will you do me the favor to read his letter,
and give me your answer, in private?"
AVithout a word, Vyr led the way to a small room
which served him as an office. There he broke the
seal and read, while the messenger stood vainly try
ing to still his loudly beating heart:
246 A DEMIGOD.
" MIKRO MAINA, September 24, 18—.
" SIR, — A short time ago you rendered me, in com
mon with my friends, a most signal service. I joined
them in the expression of profound feeling which so
gallant and beneficent an act naturally awakened.
" Since then, however, events have occurred which
have released me from my obligation to you, and
changed my sense of gratitude to one of bitter in
dignation. You are the cause of a disaster, sir, which
to me is far greater than captivity among the klephts.
From that I might have found other means of re
lease than your intervention ; but for the loss of the
greatest treasure man can possess, a loss which, as
you must be fully aware, you have inflicted upon
me, there is only one atonement in my power to ask,
or in yours to give. For tin's, therefore, as well as
for the insulting and threatening language you saw
tit to use at our last accidental meeting, I hereby de
mand the atonement which you, as a gentleman and
a brave man, cannot refuse.
"My friend, Prof. Harkos Tsaras, has kindly con
sented to make the necessary arrangements with any
gentleman you may designate.
" I have the honor to be
" Your most obedient servant,
" ROBERT GRIFFIN.
"M. HECTOR YYR."
The look of indifference with which Yyr began
the perusal of this letter changed to a smile of inef
fable contempt as he read on, and to a peal of laugh
ter as he finished.
THE SERPENT HISSES. 047
"This poor angry fool," lie said, raising his eyes
to the wonder-struck Tsaras, " wishes to fight a duel
with me !"
Tsaras bowed.
" He lias talked with you about it ?"
"He has."
" What is his purpose ? — does he wish to kill me,
or does he wish me to kill him ?"
" That is a strange question, monsieur."
" Answer it " — authoritatively.
'' Why, I suppose he hopes that the fortune of bat
tle will favor him. It would be no more than nat
ural."
"He assumes that I shall choose a weapon in the
use of which his skill is equal if not superior to my
own ?"
" He knows that Monsieur Vyr is as generous as
he is brave."
" Ah, then, of course he wishes to kill me. Why C
Tsaras was writhing under the cool, penetrating
eye and the overpowering presence of his questioner.
"Will monsieur have the kindness to answer my
friend's letter?" he asked, ruefully.
"Certainly not, until I understand it."
"Is it not a sufficient explanation in itself T
" By no means. It does not reveal the writer's mo
tive."
"Pardon; but is not that his own affair r'
"No more his than mine, if I am to assist him.
lie cannot tight this duel alone, my friend ; and if I
am to be his accomplice, I must know whether his
248 A DEMIGOD.
motive be tight or wrong. I ask you again, why does
lie wisli to kill me ?"
" Surely his letter explains the cause of offence."
" You imply that his motive is revenge. If so, I
will not help him to gratify so base a passion. If I
have done him any wrong, I will repair it in a man
ly, sensible way. You may say to him this: ' Mr.
Griffin, in a moment of ungovernable passion, of
which I am ashamed, I threatened to tear you to
atoms. I explained to you, a few minutes after
wards, that this was the speech of a madman, and I
asked your forgiveness. That is enough. I did not
carry out my threat, and the breath I breathed out
I breathed in again. Afterwards I told you that
though you had the tongue of a man you had the
soul of a reptile. These words were figurative, it is
true, but their import was truth ; so there can be no
wrong in them, and hence no reparation is due.' "
" I suppose," interrupted Tsiiras, now quite re
stored to equanimity by the quiet, argumentative
tone which the conversation had assumed — "I sup
pose you will admit that to be a matter of opinion."
"Assuredly. I speak only my own opinions. I
am not responsible for those of other men."
" But one man's opinion may be grossly insulting
to another — at least its expression may be."
" No. If it is truth, it is no insult. If it is an error
made in good faith, it is an injustice, which a just
man will correct as soon as he is convinced. Let Mr.
Griffin prove to me that I was in error, and I will
hasten to acknowledge it."
THE SERPENT HISSES. 249
"And so," cried Tsaras, pleased and astonished at
his own boldness, and the " wond'fnl " Hector Vyr's
condescension — " and so any man is justified in say
ing any outrageous thing he chooses to another, pro
vided he thinks it is the truth, although his judg
ment may be warped by anger, malice, prejudice,
misinformation, jealousy, or stupidity !"
" Others may respect or despise his opinions as they
see fit," replied Vyr. " Your friend Mr. Griffin has
this freedom in respect to mine. If my contempt
for him is the fault of my imperfect judgment, he
may despise it as a thing of no significance."
" Suppose a man insults you by saying to you what he
himself does not believe to be true'?'' suggested Tsaras.
" Such a man is but an idle babbler, not worthy of
mv notice. If Mr. Griffin thinks I have done so to
him, he may regard me in that light."
Tsaras looked far from satisfied, but made no re
ply. Vyr went on :
"There is one respect in which I freely acknowl
edge that I have done Mr. Griffin injustice. I said
to his cousin Miss Paul that he had not the courage
to use the weapons lie bears. I also said to her that
I could scare him away with a look. I am convinced
that this was an error."
"May I ask if these things were said in his li ear
ing '.** asked Tsaras, curiously.
"No. And it is this I most regret. You may say
so to him, Monsieur Tsaras. And now I believe I
have made full reparation for all the wrong I have
done him."
250 A DEMIGOD.
" The tilings we have been speaking of are trifles,"
said Tsaras, as if the thought had just occurred to
him. " You make no mention of the great grievance
of all — the disaster which he says you have caused,
far greater to hiwi than the captivity from which you
released him."
" I have not mentioned it, simply because there is
no wrong to acknowledge nor difficulty to explain.
Mr. Griffin needs no words from me to understand
that, when he charges me with robbing him of the
greatest treasure man can possess, lie is what I have
called an idle babbler, not worthy of notice. He
says what he himself does not believe. Can a man
lose what he has never possessed ? What no man al
ready possesses, is it not free to any man to win if he
can ? No wrong has been done here, and hence no
reparation is called for. Why, then, I still ask, does
lie thirst for my blood ? If it is to gratify an unrea
soning revenge, I refuse to be his accomplice.
"But perhaps it is hope. Perhaps he imagines
my death will give him the treasure of which he
thinks my life deprives him. You may tell him,
Monsieur Tsaras, h'rst, that such a hope is futile,
for the murderous deed would only drive that treas
ure farther than ever from his grasp ; and, secondly,
that such a motive is no better than that of the
klepht, who also murders that he may gain. In
such a business I shall never participate.
" There is only one other supposition possible :
that he wishes me to kill him. This, of course, is
extremely improbable ; but even if it were the true
TIIE SERPENT HISSES. 251
one, I could not gratify him ; . unless, indeed, ho
should enroll himself among the klephts, and thus
give me the sanction of the law."
"And this, Mr. Vyr, is your final answer?"
" It is my only answer."
"Would you not like" — hesitatingly — "to think
of it for twenty-four hours ?"
" No. Why should I ? It is a very simple mat
ter — there is nothing more to think of."
"Very well, then. Will you kindly write a line,
that my friend may be in no doubt as to your
decision 2"
"He will not believe your word ?" asked Vyr, with
a smile.
" It is more business-like."
Vyr laughed outright. "You call it business?
Well, I will humor you."
He took a scrap of paper, and dashed off, in a big,
round, black hand,
" MR. GRIFFIN, — I have read your letter of to-day.
My answer to your demand is no.
" HECTOR VYR.
"My Jwuse, Sept. 34, 18—."
" Thank you," said Tsaras, folding the paper care
fully and putting it in his pocket. "1 will now
take my leave ; but my friend may send me back."
"It would be a waste of time. However, you
shall be admitted, as you were this morning."
In a few hours Tsaras returned with the following
letter:
253 A DEMIGOD.
" MIKKO-MAINA, September 24, 18 — .
" SIR, — Your insultingly short reply to my letter
of this morning has been handed me by my friend,
Prof. Tsaras. In it you decline to give me the
satisfaction I have an undoubted right to demand.
In its stead you offer me, by word of mouth, only a
specimen of that peculiar philosophy in which you
evidently take so much pride. Permit me, there
fore, to say that such conduct is no more in keeping
with the character which you have hitherto main
tained for courage, than your recent treatment of
myself is in keeping with the honor and magnanimi
ty of a gentleman. I shall lose no opportunity of
setting you in your true light before the public, be
fore which you have been so successfully posing as a
prodigy of valor, and before my personal friends,
upon whose good opinion you place so high a value.
" Permit me further to say that you will not es
cape with this punishment alone.
" I have the honor to be
" Your obedient servant,
" ROBERT GRIFFIN.
"M. HECTOR VYB."
The same changing expressions passed over Vyr's
face, as he read through this ferocious epistle, that
its predecessor had called forth.
" Take this back to your friend," he said, " and
thank him for me for the amusement it has afforded
me."
" You are a remarkable man, indeed !" muttered
Tsaras, half to himself.
TUB SERPENT HISSES. 253
"Why? because I laugh? I suppose it is cruel.
I ought to feel only compassion. Your friend has
been unfortunate, and is very unhappy. I would
express my sympathy for him, but you know very
well it would only be rejected. I cannot feel fright
ened by his terrible words, so nothing remains but to
be amused by them."
"I was instructed," said Tsaras, with formality,
" to ask you, for the last time, will you give Mr. Grif
fin the satisfaction he demands?"
" Why is that asked again ?" returned Vyr, with
the first sign of real intolerance he had yet shown.
"Have I not told him plainly? He has the satisfac
tion of having challenged me. He is therefore en
titled to all the credit — whatever it may be — of an
actual encounter. It is no fault of his that I will
not descend to the idiotic barbarism of a prearranged
duel. He may enjoy the further satisfaction of
branding Hector Vyr as a coward, to say nothing
of the additional punishment he says ho has in store
for him. What more can he ask ? Come, my friend,
this interview has been sufficiently prolonged. It
is only the genuine sorrow I feel for Mr. Griffin
that has made me patient all this time. You may
go now."
And although V}rr made no movement, yet it al
most seemed to Tsaras as if he were taken up bodily
and carried out by some invisible power.
254 A DEMIGOD.
XIX.
THE SERPENT STINGS.
AFTER Tsaras had finally gone, Major Paul and
his friends anxiously waited for some intimation as
to the nature of the business which their absent kins
man had to transact with Hector Vyr. The latter
made no reply, however, to their inquiring looks, but,
after a few commonplace remarks about the long-
continued absence of rain, and the effect upon his
crops — with scarcely a glance at Madeline — he start
ed to return to his field. The major saw the startled,
wounded look upon Madeline's pale face, and, spring
ing up with sudden determination, followed him.
Vyr saw him coming, and smilingly waited.
"Mr. Vyr," said the major, "is the matter between
you and my nephew one that I have a right to know
about ?"
" You may know it if you wish, though it is not
essential that you should. It affects neither youv
daughter nor yourself, and I do not wish the slightest
hint of it to reach her. In reality, it affects only Mr.
Griffin himself. He has sent me a challenge."
" Apotheosis of Blazing Idiots ! I was afraid of
that."
" Why-fore afraid, Mr. Paul ?" — with a smile —
"you paid a very poor compliment to my self-re-
THE SERPENT STINGS. 055
spect, intelligence, or humanity, if you supposed for
one instant that I should accept. I should ill fuliil
my mission if I consented to an act which belongs to
an inferior stage in the development of civilized man,
and beyond which, thank Heaven, he has already ad
vanced. My mission is to go forward, not back
ward."
" Poor Robert ! I don't suppose he really knew
what he was about. He is in great trouble, Mr. Vyr."
" I know that ; and I pity him from my heart ;
but I could not give to him what fate has refused
him, even if I would.
" Mr. Paul " — stopping and speaking with slow,
intensely earnest utterance — "until lately I had but
one great object in existence. To that object 1 have
sworn to devote my life and energies. I shall keep
my oath, at least its letter: its spirit compels me to
seek in marriage the most perfect example of woman
hood fortune brings to my knowledge. With no
direct thought of my oath, I found myself plunged
into a love for your daughter which has swallowed
up my soul as the ocean would ingulf my body.
With unutterable joy I became convinced that my
coolest judgment could not choose better than my
heart had already chosen. We have spoken our love
to each other, and you have not frowned upon us.
But now my great object in life has sunk almost into
insignificance in comparison with another — that of
securing for my beloved the greatest possible degree
of happiness of which she is capable. To this I feel
as if I could sacrifice all others, except the preserva-
17
256 A DEMIGOD.
tion of honor. I have read of man's love for woman
in poems and tales ; but mine is not like that. That
demands love for love, like the payment of a debt to
the uttermost farthing. It demands possession at all
hazards. It is not love ; it is the greed of a devour
ing dragon. But mine demands above all other things
the choicest blessings that Heaven can bestow upon
her beloved head. My own happiness I could throw
into the scale as a willing sacrifice, if it would enhance
hers — that would not be sacrificing my happiness, it
would be insuring it — I could yield possession of her,
I mean, and live in contentment, if I knew that there
by she would be more blessed than with me. Mr,
Paul, tell me from your heart of hearts, do you. be
lieve she would lead a happier life without me in her
own country than with me in these wilds ?"
This solemn appeal, delivered with an intensity of
feeling the major had never before imagined, almost
stopped his pulses. He knew not what to say. At
length he stammered :
" But — but, if my darling Madeline is, as you say,
the finest example of womanhood you expect to meet
—how are you going to — what about your oath, Mr.
Vyr ?"
" Its language is simply negative ; it does not com
pel me to marry, it only obliges me to avoid allying
myself with mental, moral, or physical deficiency.
And it is better that the lineage should end with Hec
tor Vyr, than that he should transmit to posterity the
smallest gerrn of the greedy, selfish passion which
goes under the name of Love. If it is not love itself,
THE SERPENT STINGS. 257
pure, self-sacrificing, heavenly — preferring the wel
fare of its object to all other things, even a posterity
that it would otherwise debase — far better that it
should die !"
Major Paul looked at him with an admiration
amounting to awe. " I cannot answer for Madeline,"
he replied, in a voice shaken by his emotions ; " but,
if she does not prefer such devotion from such a
source to a thousand Bostons, she is unworthy of you.
That's all I can say, Mr. Vyr." And he turned and
marched away, as if he were on parade.
" Mr. Paul."
The major halted and faced about.
"Not a word of this to her"
"No, Mr. Vyr."
As Vyr went on his way alone, he mused :
"Poor dove! I have played upon her wonder and
gratitude until she is in my toils, and cannot escape
if she would. Does she not even now secretly regret
that her love for me will exile her from her home,
notwithstanding all I have promised her in return ?
Will all I can do compensate her for the sacrifice?
That poor, foolish young man loves her well enough
to throw away his life for her. lie deserves a better
fate, mean-spirited as I thought him. Can it be that
her heart might have softened to him if she had never
fallen in my way, and that she might have lifted him,
if not to her own level, at least to one of harmony
and mutual happiness I Would it be better for her,
after all, if she could cease loving me? Could she
cease loving me if she thought I had ceased lov-
358 A DEMIGOD.
ing her? Would it be cruel to put lier to the
test?1'
Thus he renewed the battle with himself, till, iron-
nerved as he was, the sweat stood in great drops on
his brow.
"When he returned at rapper-time, his manner tow
ards Madeline was that of a ceremonious host, noth
ing more. Throughout the short evening he main
tained the same unlover-like reserve. He seemed to
have entirely forgotten the tender scenes that had
taken place between them. She, poor girl, besides
being chilled to the heart by his changed manner, was
devoured with anxiety in regard to the mysterious
" commission " of Tsaras. But she would not speak
— not she ; she sat with proud indifference, occasion
ally chatting with her father and aunt, until she final
ly rose to say " good-night."
Yyr followed her to the foot of the stairs, but he
offered her no embrace ; there was no tenderness in
his look, no lingering pressure of her hand, only a
little tremor in his voice, as he said, "Good- night,
Madeline. May your sleep be as sweet as your soul
is pure."
" Thank you, Mr. Yyr. I always sleep sweetly.
Good-night."
She walked up-stairs with a firm, steady step, and
sat down at her window to — think.
And this was her hero, the god she had worshipped !
The change had immediately followed Tsaras's visit.
Robert had in some vr&j frigMened him — him who
was to scare the poor fellow away with a look ! Oh,
THE SERPENT STINGS. 259
\vliat a fall was there — what a height, what a deptli !
Oh, the scorn, the bitter self-scorn, that stung her for
her folly, her absolute inanity !
And yet, was it not this very god, this very pyg
my, that had dashed up to the mouth of the lion's
den, and, single-handed, brought her and hers away in
safety? Had she sinned unpardonably against him
in her thought ? If she had, could she ever look upon
his face again ? could she ever dare to think of him
again ?
Could it be that Robert had tried to poison his
mind in regard to her past history ? No, no ! Des
perate, passionate, revengeful as he was, he was her
cousin, the son of her own mother's sister. But, if
it were possible, would Hector Yyr believe him ?
Would he not repel the slanders with unutterable
contempt, or at least give her the opportunity of
doing so ?
" May your sleep be as sweet as your soul is pure."
"Were not these kind, beautiful words enough, from
lips that could utter falsehood no more than the
heavens could fall to earth ?
No, he had repented his own impulsive haste ; he
had seen his mistake ; he had taken her for a divinity
worthy of himself, and had at last discovered that
she was no more than other women. And now he
was sternly, cruelly undoing his mistake. Soon he
would unsay the words that had lifted her soul to
paradise.
And she ? Alas ! she ought to have known, if he
260 A DEMIGOD.
did not. It was, as she had told him, all a gorgeous
dream. She was awaking, and she would banish it
like other dreams from her recollection.
One day more and she would return with her
friends to the solid earth beneath the clouds, and he
would never see nor lietir of her again.
Would he think of her? would he feel sorry that
he had taken, her up in his mighty hand, like a little
bird, only to dash her down again ?
The livelong night brought her no sleep. In the
morning she stood before her mirror until she had
schooled her features to an expression of calm, even
gay unconcern, and then tripped down the staircase
with the same lively air upon her lips that had an
swered the birds upon her n'rst morning there. Vyr
darted a keen glance at her as she entered the break
fast-room, which was lost upon her no more than was
the momentary pallor on his own face, or his silent
preoccupation during the meal. She chatted briskly
about their return to Athens, and the wonderful sto
ries they should have to relate to their friends in Bos
ton. She even spoke of Robert as if nothing had
happened to disturb their cousinly friendship, won
dered what comical mischief he had been concocting
during his absence, and whether he was not coming
to bid his entertainers good-by. She hoped that Ma
dame Yyr and her son would, for once at least, break
in upon their ascetic habits, and accept a return of
their delightful hospitality. It was altogether a sin
gular, one-sided conversation. Vyr looked and lis-
THE SERPENT STINGS. 261
tened as if neither seeing nor hearing. The major
scarcely uttered a word, but sat looking from one to
another, wondering when the farce would be over
and the real play begin, when he should be having
something to say for himself. Madame Vyr's face
wore a more anxious and bewildered look than ever.
Aunt Eliza ventured upon a few non-committal ob
servations, but Madeline alone seemed to be mistress
of the situation.
Finally, as they were about rising from the table,
Vyr roused himself. " Mr. Paul," he said, " while I
was at the village yesterday I learned something that
I think will interest you."
" I shall be most happy to be interested, sir," re
plied the major, a little stiffly.
" His Majesty's Government has at last listened to
the demands of the American Minister in your be
half, and has sent a«detachment of one hundred and
fifty men to rescue yon from the klephts."
" Indeed ! I am under great obligations to his
Majesty's Government. It was a handsome thing to
do. I have said a great many hard things of that in
stitution — I am happy to retract 'em all."
" They are now in the village," Vyr went on.
" Their commander has expressed a very strong de
sire to meet you and your friends, and to extend to
you his congratulations on your not needing his serv
ices. If he were not prevented by my well-known
inhospitality to uninvited guests, he would doubtless
have presented himself here before this. I happened
to fall in with him — a very good-hearted, soldierly
262 A DEMIGOD.
fellow — but I assure yon I was glad to escape from
his tongue. lie could not understand by once tell
ing that I would not accept any demonstrations in
my honor, nor permit any to my guests at my house.
I am a bear, and it is not only right but necessary
that all who know of me at all should also know this
of me."
" We discovered it long ago," remarked Miss Well
ington, facetiously.
"I have not been a bear to you," replied Vyr,
coldly, "because you have a perfect right to be here.
I desired your society for my own purposes, and I
invited you to visit me."
Soon after breakfast, of which Vyr scarcely tasted,
he proposed a last ramble through the neighboring
forest. Madeline assented with cheerful alacrity, and
was running to call her father and aunt, when he
prevented her by a decided " No."
She controlled the sudden throbbing in her breast,
and simply replied, " My father, at least, would enjoy
it as well as I."
" As well as you ?" thought Vyr, giving her a long,
wistful look. " Are you weaned from me so soon,
so easily ?" Then he said aloud, " I do not invite
you for the sake of mere enjoyment to-day, Madeline.
I have much to say to you alone."
" Say it now ! here /" she answered, bravely. " I
insist upon your telling me at once what is wrong or
strange."
" There is nothing wrong or strange so far as you
THE SERPENT STINGS. 263
arc concerned, /am the only one in the wrong, and
it remains for mo to — do right."
"Then do right — now!"
"That is what I am trying to do," he said, with
unutterable sadness. " Come with me, and I will tell
you what the right is."
For a few moments she stood regarding him in
proud defiance. lie moved slowly away, with his
great soft eye fixed steadily upon hers. Against her
will her feet followed him.
They went silently down the narrow, stony path
to the deep ravine which they had crossed at their
first approach to his home.
" Xot across there" she said, firmly.
"Yes, Madeline ; I wish it. I have a good reason."
"Mr.Vyr, I \\i\\not!"
But she might as well have opposed Fate. As if
lie had not heard her last words, he gently approach
ed and raised her unresisting form in his arms. The
angry tears rushed to her eyes ; she tried to speak,
but her tongue was paralyzed. lie stepped upon the
perilous bridge. For an instant she looked down
into the frightful abyss, and her arms flew around
his neck. She felt convulsive tremors darting
through his frame, and she clung more closely.
AVhen he set her down on the other side, the tears
still stood in her eyes. " You are a tyrant !" she
cried, with a passionate outburst, "a cruel tyrant!"
"Am I?" he said, sorrowfully. "Forgive me. I
did not mean to be. I did not think you would be
60 frightened. You were not before. There is no
2G4 A DEMIGOD.
more danger now than then, Madeline. Are you an
gry because I brought you here against your will?
I will carry you back again if you command me, and
by-and-by I will tell you why-fore I brought you
here.'1
She hesitated, looked again into the gulf, and re
coiled. " No," she said, weakly ; " not now. Let
me rest a while."
" Poor, tender bird ! I have been cruel. I am not
fit to be with you. I shall never learn to be gentle.
Here, darl — here, Madeline, rest under this fir. You
are pale, you are trembling. I will not frighten you
any more. I will obey you like your slave."
His penitence and submission soon reconciled her
to her position, and she waited for him to begin his
promised confession. But, intolerable as was her sus
pense, she was too proud to betray the least impa
tience. She even feigned interest in the natural ob
jects around, asking him for their names and uses.
So perfect was her disguise that he was complete
ly deceived. " Ah !" he said to himself, " how have
I mistaken this beautiful, soulless creature ! Her
heavenly lips have spoken love which I thought was
as deep as the sea, but which was only as the foam
upon its surface ! Will my heart ever recover from
this bitter, bitter blight ? There is nothing for me
to say — the work is already done — she has forgotten
why we came here /"
The poor unsophisticated soul even felt something
akin to her own pride. He answered her questions
with a clumsy attempt at her own indifference of
THE SERPENT STINGS. OQ5
manner. While thus engaged, his eye fell upon a
politary ant slowly dragging along the mutilated body
of a beetle. lie broke a dry twig in two, and care
fully placed the pieces in its path, leaving a passage
too narrow for its burden to pass through.
" What a little fool !" he exclaimed, after both had
watched its unavailing efforts for a while. " Why
doesn't she go around, where her path is clear ? They
say she knows almost as much with her atom of brain
as we do with our three pounds, more or less. Let
us see her prove it. Stupid ! doesn't she see the
beetle is too big to go through that little gate ? She
could have carried it around twenty times while she
has been wasting her strength there."
"Here, you poor little simpleton," said Madeline,
" let me help you." And she pushed away one of
the sticks.
"You are no naturalist, Miss Paul," said Vyr,
with a singular, desolate smile, "or you would have
waited."
"No, Mr. Vyr, I have no heart to experiment —
even on an insect."
In spite of her self-mastery there was something in
her tone so unconsciously accusing, so appealing, that
it penetrated to his very soul. Not all the eloquence
of words could have equalled the pathetic reproach
of that voice. lie stood before her a while, regarding
her in silence. Then he said, in a low, humble tone,
"Your rebuke is just; I have been experimenting
upon you !''
"And most cruelly!" she burst forth, all her self-
266 A DEMIGOD.
restraint giving way. " Could yon not speak ? could
you not ask me what you wished to know, as you
promised to do ?"
"I promised to ask what your lips could tell," he
answered, without lifting his eyes. " But we do not
always know our own hearts, Madeline. I know
yours is true — Heaven forgive me for doubting it
for one instant ! I know you believe you could al
ways be happy with me, even in the life-long exile I
offer you. But 'always' is a long time ; 'life-long'
means throughout the heat of youth, throughout mid
dle life, with its cooler weighing of blessings and pri
vations, throughout frozen age. Love must be a
chain as" well as a garland. It may have the beauty
and fragrance of flowers, but it must have also the
strength of adamant. A chain that is to hold so long
must be tried, Madeline. If a little strain can break
it now, is it not better that it should be broken?
Better for you, I mean," he added, with intense fer
vor — " it is of you only that I think !"
" Strains will come soon enough without our seek
ing for them," retorted Madeline, bitterly, yet with a
gleam of tenderness in her reproach. " If your faith
in my love is so weak that you cannot trust it with
out such cruel tests, you had better never have sought
it. But are you quite sure it is /, after all, whom
you are testing ? Have you no misgiving lest you
may have chosen wrongly ? She whom you rescued
from the klephts, and whom your first blind impulse
exalted to your own level — have you, at last, discov
ered that she is only one of countless thousands, any
THE MAJOR'S RIDE. 267
one of whom might have filled her place in your
fancy to-day, had fortune so willed it? Have you
discovered that poor Madeline Paul is not the divin
ity you thought her ?" Rising calm and cold before
him— "And is this what you meant when you said
you were in the wrong, and were going to — do right?"
Before Hector Yyr, gazing entranced into her eyes,
could reply, the sound of a sudden rushing was heard
— a loud shout — there was a heavy blow — and he
sank unconscious at her side.
XX.
TIIE MAJOR'S RIDE.
THAT had taken place which, under any other cir
cumstances, would have been impossible. Eye and
ear, heart and soul completely enthralled, there was
nothing to Hector Vyr either audible or visible be
yond the shade of that fir-tree.
Peschino caught Madeline in his arms, while two
other brigands pounced upon the prostrate form of
her lover. Her piercing shrieks partially restored
Vyr to consciousness, and a mighty spasm shot
through his body, throwing one of his captors upon
his back and the other to his knees. With a curse
of rage and fear, Peschino dropped his burden and
sprang to their assistance, fetching another blow upon
the bleeding head of his victim..
As if in response to Madeline's agonized shrieks
268 A DEMIGOD.
for help, a man came running towards her from
among the bushes.
It was Robert Griffin !
" Thank God !" she cried, springing to him with
out-stretched arms. " Oh, Robert — save him ! save
him!"
At the same instant a loud report rang out among
the trees on the other side of the ravine, and one of
the brigands fell. The sentinel and two others were
seen hurrying down the slope.
"Ferete ten mdzi mas!" (Bring her with us!)
shouted Peschino, as he and his men made off with
their inanimate prisoner.
Griffin replied by a shot from his revolver into the
air. Then, seizing Madeline's hand, he dragged her
towards the bridge.
" Save him, too ! Let me go !" she cried, strug
gling to escape.
" Hush !" he hissed through his teeth ; " the others
will look out for 1dm. Come along, I say ! When
you're safe in the house, we'll arouse the village."
In her frenzy she charged him with treachery —
murder !
He turned upon her, his face white with fury. " Is
this your gratitude, you viper ! Are these the words
you spoke to him when he did no more for you than
I have done this day ?"
Poor soul ! notwithstanding that she shrank with
loathing from his very sight and touch, uncertainty
made her retract her terrible charges, and plead for
his forbearance.
THE MAJOR'S RIDE. 2G9
It was now she that urged him forward. He was
obliged to strain every nerve to keep pace with her
nimble feet. The bridge was lying, as Vyr had left
it, over the ravine. Heedless of danger she crossed
it, calling Griffin to follow. On she sped, up the
path until the white tower came in sight. The sen
tinel's shot as well as her own shrieks had been heard,
and her father, with two or three of the servants,
was hastening to meet her.
"What is it, Madge?" puffed the major — "for
Heaven's sake, what is it ?"
" The brigands ! — Hector /" she gasped, seizing him
by his arms.
" "What do you say ? — the brigands have — got —
Ju 'in /—got Hector Vyrf"
" Yes ! yes ! Save him ! oh, save him !"
Griffin now came up, and breathlessly told how,
while on his way to join his friends and say farewell
to the Yyrs, he had happened on the scene of action
in the very nick of time.
The major blessed him with few but vigorous
words. "We'll save him, too, Robert," he panted.
"Rim up with Madge — rouse everybody — meet me
at the demarcli's."
In an incredibly short space of time, Major Paul
reached the little office of the dcmarch of Mikro-
Maina. Bursting in without ceremony, he inquired
whether the detachment of troops had left the vil
lage.
His month of language-lessons with Peschino now
stood him in good stead.
270 A DEMIGOD.
The big, red-faced Mainote stared in open-mouthed
wonder. "Yes," lie managed to answer at length ;
"it left this morning/1
" Where has it gone ?"
" Back to Athens, to report to his Majesty's Gov
ernment the complete success of the expedition. I
congratulate you on your — "
" Where will it stop for the night?"
" Probably at Peschino-Chorio."
The name startled the major. " Does that place
belong to the villain Tin after?" he asked.
" The klepht ? No," smiled the demarch. " They
have nothing to do with each other that I know of."
"How far is it from here?"
" About six hours' journey."
It was nearly three o'clock.
" A\rho has the swiftest horse in the village ?"
The demarch reflected.
"Mikhalis Panoutso has one that is very fleet;
Petros Maurides has another about as good ; but,
Panagliia! no one has an animal that can compare
with my own 'Alogon."
" Will you let me have him ?"
"Holy Virgin ! no one could hire my 'Alogon for
half his entire value."
"But I will l)inj him of you at double his value."
" E eugema sas " (You are a prince). " He would
be cheap at six hundred drachmas."
" Have him saddled immediately," ordered the ma
jor; "and, in the mean time, write me a letter of
introduction to the commander of the detachment :
THE MAJORS RIDE. 271
Major Warren Paul of Boston, TJ. S., late of the — tli
lu'iriment Massachusetts Volunteers, recently rescued
O ' v
from the klephts."
When his order had been executed, he said, " If
Mr. Griffin calls here — You know him, I believe V
The demarch nodded.
" Tell him to wait for me at the Kutclmk inn."
Mounted upon a large-framed, powerful creature,
Major Paul rode for dear life, stopping only to in
quire his way as he passed through one straggling
village after another.
For dear life? lie rode for one whose happiness
was dearer to him than life — for the life of another
worth to humanity a hundred of his own, a life which
might even then be going out in lingering torture — •
he rode for sacred honor, for the payment of a debt
that life to that other or death to himself only could
repay!
Now dismounting to rest his panting horse while
they climbed a steep, narrow, crooked path, now ca
reering down the opposite incline, scouring over the
valley, thundering across the rickety foot-bridge that
spanned the stream in its midst, plunging into a for
est, emerging on the other side — he at last, just as
the sun was setting, dashed up to the barracks at
Prsdiin<»-( 'horio.
The officer of the guard was called, who took
Major Paul's letter of introduction, and with elabo
rate politriu'ss Conducted him to headquarters. His
• |»tii»n then1, while it nrre.-sarilv pleased and en-
18
272 A DEMIGOD.
couraged him, wasted precious time. lie impatient
ly interrupted it, therefore, with a statement of his
errand, which his broken Greek rendered forcible, if
not eloquent.
We will attempt a free translation of the conversa
tion that ensued.
" I have heard of this Hector Vyr," said the loch-
agbs commanding, " even before the gallant act which
anticipated my own, and for which he so persistently
refuses all recognition, official or private. Until then,
however, I never believed the stories they tell of him.
He shall be reported in spite of himself ; he cannot
help that. He must be a marvel indeed ! How is
it possible the klephts ever caught him ?"
" But they have caught him !" fumed the major.
" And if he is to be rescued there is not a moment to
lose. We must march instontly"
" My orders were—"
" Curse your orders ! Go back to Athens without
striking a blow for the man that alone did your work
for you and your whole command — if you daro !"
" Certainly not. I will despatch a courier without
delay to—"
" But he'll be dead, I tell you ! He's dead now,
for all I know. Come, my dear colonel, Pll take the
responsibility. You shall run no risk. I promise
you the influence of the whole United States Gov
ernment to protect you. Lose another moment and
your head shall be covered with infamy, both at homo
and abroad. Suppose you are disciplined — a thing
your minister will never disgrace himself by doing—
THE ORDEAL. 373
what then? You will have made a glorious record,
bulged a score of kleplits, perhaps, to say nothing of
rescuing the man who is an army in himself. I
promise you success, colonel. I've been there, my
self, and will show you the road to victory. We
needn't go by the Flume at all. Great King Devil !
what do you want? If it is money — "
" Sir ! this is an insult."
" Never mind. We'll settle it afterwards. What
arc you waiting for ? Give the order this instant, I
say !"
"Well, well. Don't be so furious, my friend. I'll
venture it."
" Now ! We must march at once, and fight all
night if necessary !"
But in spite of entreaties and threats the lochagos
refused to stir till morning. So, lest he might be
come so incensed that he would give up the under
taking altogether, the major finally submitted, though
he spent half the night in chafing and raging like a
caged animal.
XXI.
THE ORDEAL.
HECTOR YYR'S first returning consciousness was
that of a terrible throbbing pain in his temples,
the smell of brandy, a fiery, pungent taste in his
mouth and throat, and iron chains pressing tightly
into his anus, wrists. legs, and ankles.
274 A DEMIGOD.
He drew a deep, gasping breath and opened his
eyes. He was lying on a pallet in a rude hut. The
pillow was red with blood from his head. A dozen
faces were glaring at him in savage exultation.
"Go!'' he heard a loud voice say; "every man to
his quarters."
Reluctantly the brigands withdrew, leaving their
captain alone with his prisoner.
" So I have you at last !"
" Yes. You have my body."
" That's all I want. As for the rest of you, the
devil may have it and be welcome — he'll soon get it,"
with a ferocious laugh.
O
" You are happy now, are you not ?" asked Vyr.
His voice was so changed by the first great physical
shock he had ever suffered, that he almost wondered
wrhether it was he that was speaking or some one else
uttering his thoughts.
"Happy!" echoed Peschino. "I am in paradise!
This is the grandest day of my life. It is joy enough
for a hundred lives to see the Antliropodaimon lying
like a helpless infant in my cabin !"
" Enjoy it while you can, Peschino," answered his
victim, fixing his great mild eyes, languid with pain,
upon him. " There is little enough you can enjoy,
poor soul !"
" Ho, ho ! Never you fear for me. I'll get enjoy
ment enough out of you before I have done with
you !"
" Play with me, and then slay me. Then there is
the rest of your life on earth — then eternity."
THE OKDEAL. 275
Vvr spoke more as if lie were communing with
himself than replying to Peschino. His eyes had
turned away from his enemy, and now looked dream
ily out through the little window at the foot of his
pallet.
The brigand crossed himself. "I'll meet you in
eternity, Hector Vyr," he retorted, with a fearful
scowl, " with all my followers whom you have sent
there."
" Yes. We shall all meet together before our
Judge — and may He forgive us all !"
" You preach and pray !" growled Peschino. " You
sing psalms and I — I'll play tlie instruments /"
But the terrible significance of this taunt extorted
no sign of fear from the helpless prisoner, who asked
quietly,
'• Are these chains designed as a part of my pun
ishment, or simply for security C
"Will you swear to attempt no violence if I loosen
them a little?"
" I shall attempt nothing that would be useless."
"Will you swear to make no effort to escape, or to
harm any of us, if I take them off altogether ?"
" No. Let them remain as they are."
Nevertheless, Peschino sounded a whistle, and
while two brigands who answered the call stood cov
ering the prisoner with their rifles, he unlocked the
fetters, loosened and rclocked them, one by one,
affording inexpressible relief to the swollen, suffering
limbs.
" I have no intention to ' punish ' you," he ex-
276 A DEMIGOD.
plained, after the men had been again sent away,
"until the proper time. I have a proposition to
make to yon first."
" You will doubtless waste your breath. Never
theless, go on, and I will listen as well as I can with
this thumping brain. You have lamed my thinking
power somewhat with that bludgeon of yours, Peschi-
710. If you wished to talk with me, you should not
have struck so hard — twice, I think it was, was it
not?"
"Ah, it was Hector Vyr that I struck!" laughed
the brigand, exultingly. " Santa Maria bless the
sweet bait that trapped him for us, the beautiful
Madeline Paul ! Without her help we could as well
have trapped the moon !"
Two lurid flames seemed to leap from the eyes be
fore so soft and mild. Peschino started back, ex
pecting to see the chains snap under the tremendous
struggles of his prisoner ; but in a moment or two
the latter sank panting back upon his pallet.
" Aha !" thought Peschino, " there's where the
quick lies. Now we'll see \vhat you'll say to my
proposition.
" What," he asked, " if I should myself break those
chains for you ? What if I offer to you release — not
merely from death, but torture f
" Yes, Hector Vyr, liberty is yours if you will ac
cept it. I, the Kapitdn Peschino, pronounce it upon
the honor of a klepht. I will forget the many dis
appointments we have suffered at your hands, the
terrors, wounds, and death you have inflicted upon
THE ORDEAL. 277
my brave followers ; you shall once more behold the
face of your twice-bereaved mother, and clasp in your
arms the beautiful daughter of the Frank — I, who
loved her and swore that the very bed whereon you
lie should be hers, will yield you even this — all upon
one condition !"
" Become one of you ?"
" Yes. Will you do it ? We will make you our
leader, our kiny ! Heavens! what could we not do 4
We would make all Greece our pasture-land and vine
yard ! We would laugh at the world !"
" Even as I now laugh at you."
The eager solicitation of Peschino's face changed
to a demoniac scowl. "You shall pay dearly for
this !" he growled, and turned to the door, as if to
call his men. But avarice once more mastered his
rage and thirst for revenge. lie hesitated, and turned
slowly back.
"Well, hear one more condition, one that demands
no sacrifice of honor — only simple justice."
" Go on."
"In the first place, you will not deny that you and
your father before you have many times interfered
with our business. You have lost us many hundred
thousands of drachmas. The Kapitdii Paul alone was
to pay us three hundred thousand. It was not your
affair. If he and I had been suffered to finish our
transaction of business together, you would not have
been accountable. Have we not a right to demand
that you shall let us alone ? that you shall attend to
your own affairs, and let us attend to ours ?"
278 A DEMIGOD.
" It is just. You attend to your affairs, and I will
attend to mine."
"Make good to us, then, at least this last loss.
Mark, Hector Yyr, I ask only what was already ours.
You call us thieves — what have you and your ances
tors been but the greatest thieves in Greece ? Re
store to us, I say, the last game that you stole from
our snare ; put the Kapitdn Paul again in our way ;
swear to interfere with us no more, and you are free.
Refuse this most reasonable, most generous condition,
and I swear to you I will measure your fortitude,
inch by inch, hour by hour, till I have reached its ut
most limit! or, if that is equal to your power of life,
till the last spark of life has faded out in slow agony!
Think it well over, Hector Yyr. Remember your fa
ther, and from his fate be assured that the heart of
a klepht never relents. Well, what do you say ?"
"You have done well, Peschino," answered Yyr,
with white, firm lips, " to speak of my father. If for
one instant my heart should fail me, the thought of
him would nerve me to the end. It is you that should
remember him, and know, without another trial, what
a Yyr can endure.
"If you indulge in this idle chatter because you
think it torments me, continue it by all means — 1 am
in your hands; but if you think it will cause one lit
tle tremor in my resolution, spare your breath. My
brain is weary. I shall say no more."
With this he closed his eyes, and turned his face to
the wall.
"Very well," said Peschino, drawing a long breath
THE ORDEAL. 379
between his teeth as lie arose, " I will leave you now.
I will give you till the sun again shines in at this
window to make your final decision. Perhaps a
night's thinking will make your brain clearer."
Within a half-hour after Peschino's departure the
sentinel at the door of the hut reported the prisoner
fast asleep !
There are some things too horrible to paint, though
they are not too horrible to be. Art averts her face
in high-bred disgust, or in compassion too keen for
her fine sensibilities, from scenes which Nature toler
ates without flinching, and history delineates in ev
ery horrifying detail. For four interminable hours
Hector Yyr endured that of which no one shall suf
fer the pain even of reading a description. Suffice
it that his tormentor was an adept in his fiendish art,
that he knew too well the secret of prolonging ago
ny— he knew that the breaking of bones, the direct
injury of vital parts, even the free shedding of blood,
was but a clumsy waste of the victim's vitality, and
hence of his capacity for suffering.
Did Vyr suffer without a murmur or a groan?
Before the ordeal began lie s:iid to Peschino, "I shall
play no heroic folly for your admiration. I shall as
sist your executioner by no self-torturing repression.
Do not, therefore, mistake my cries for prayers, or
my wailings for signs of yielding. They are ano
dynes which I shall employ without stint. Begin
when you please. 1 am ready."
*******
280 A DEMIGOD.
At last a more effectual anodyne came — perfect
unconsciousness.
" Quick !" shouted Peschino, " tlie brandy !"
They had partially released their victim, and were
in the act of forcing the burning liquid down his
throat, when a musket-shot was heard from the cliff,
and the cry, " Strdtiotai ! stratwtai /" (the soldiers !
the soldiers !) resounded through the camp.
Peschino had far underestimated the tremendous
vitality of Hector Yyr. It was now that his reserve-
power, the faithful husbandry of seven generations,
triumphantly showed itself. As the terrified shouts
of the brigands fell upon his reviving ear, the vital
tide came pouring back into his veins. Back surged
his giant strength into every nerve and muscle. A
feeble invalid will sometimes put forth a maniacal
force which will tax strong men to their utmost.
What, then, must have been the might with which
the long-tortured Hector Yyr arose at that electrify
ing sound ? He shook off the remaining bonds that
o o
held him as if they had been wisps of straw, snatched
a musket from the paralyzed hand of his nearest
guard, darted forward, dashing down his enemies
right and left, and disappeared in the pass before a
shot had been fired !
With loud imprecations Peschino and three more
started in pursuit. A few others sprang to the top
of the cliff to shoot down the fugitive as he emerged.
But none of their wild shots struck the half-naked
figure that darted its zigzag way down the hill and
quickly vanished in the thickets. Then, raising their
THE ORDEAL. 281
eyes for the first time, they saw a line of muskets
glittering along the open space below, and disappear
ing one by one among the tall bushes. Leaping
back into their intrenchments and seeing nowhere
their chieftain, they rushed into his hut, hurriedly
overturning pallets, tables, etc., in their search for a
certain strong box they knew of. Not finding it,
they rushed out again with yells of " Qr&gora ! GrS-
gora!" ran down the valley, up into the mountain
on the other side, where they were closely followed
by their panic-stricken comrades.
Meantime Peschino and his three followers contin
ued their pursuit until they reached the outer en
trance of the pass. There, instead of their late pris
oner, they beheld a swarm of soldiers just beginning
to pour forth from the thickets, led by the well-
known figure of Major Paul. They turned to re
treat — but too late. There were rattling explosions,
and Peschino fell with both knees shattered. His
companions caught him up in their arms and hur
ried with him into the pass. The shouts came near
er — nearer — their burden grew heavier — it was too
much for brigand courage and fealty ; they laid him
on the ground, and, heedless alike of his entreaties
and his curses, they left to his fate their captain, in
whose defence they had sworn to die !
A few minutes later he was surrounded by his
chattering, huzzaing captors. The lochagfa ordered
two soldiers to take him in charge, and hastened on
with the rest in hot pursuit of his faithless comrades.
With renewed yells the troops poured through the
283 A DEMIGOD.
pass, then scattered here and there, in and out of the
huts, and down the valley. But Peschino'fl boast was
true. In the mountain labyrinth beyond, all but the
wounded chief and three or four stragglers were as
safe as was the eagle looking down upon them from
his aerial circuit.
Major Paul found Peschino lying on the pallet in
his hut volubly cursing his two guards, who were
baiting him as they would a wounded bear.
" Let him alone, you cowardly rascals !" he roared.
They fell back respectfully to their places.
"Are you badly hurt?" he asked, kindly, bending
over the pallet.
Peschino uttered an inarticulate growl, and tried
to turn away, but the movement extorted from him
a howl of pain.
" Oh, come, come ! you're in for it now, and you
may as well make the best of it. I'm not going to
hurt you, man. I only want to make you as com
fortable as I can. What did the surgeon say to
you ?"
"lie say cut off. No; die! — no cut off. —
Ough-o-o-o !"
The major tried to place the lacerated legs in a
more comfortable position, but only brought down
on his head a shower of mingled Greek and English
curses, from which he was glad to beat a retreat.
" You bring them !" snarled the brigand, presently.
"I am proud to acknowledge the charge," replied
the major, upon whom his ungracious reception was
beginning to tell. " You showed me the way, and I
THE ORDEAL. 283
improved the knowledge. What have you l)een do
ing to JLrtnr Yijr r
Peschino's lower jaw dropped, and his face, already
pale, turned to the color of ashes.
" Well, well," said the major, startled by the effect
of his question, " I will not trouble you any more
now. I must go and help look after your subordi
nates."
Outside of the hut huddled an eager crowd striv
ing to get a sight of the famous captive. The major
drove them all away, threatening to report them to
their commander and have them court-martialled if
they did not keep their distance.
After an hour or two all further pursuit was aban
doned, the spoils were collected, the huts fired, and
with their prisoners the troops prepared to return.
On reaching the rescuing party, Hector Vyr had
thrown his arms around Major Paul's neck, and then
sunk once more into unconsciousness. Even he was
at last exhausted.
Long before the victorious detachment came in
sight of Mikro-Maina they were met by a throng of
excited villagers in quest of news. A little apart
from the crowd was a group consisting of the serv
ants of the Vyr estate and two women, at sight of
whom Major Paul rode forward on the full gal
lop. Dismounting, he embraced the younger of the
two.
" Darling daughter, we've saved him !"
"With a low, joyful cry she fainted in his arms.
"Where is he 2" asked the mother, grasping his
284 A DEMIGOD.
arm and glaring at him with fierce, insane eyes ;
" where is he? Ilave they burned him to death with
hot irons ?"
" Ho, no !" lie answered, eagerly. " He is safe !
Can't you understand, my poor woman? he is safe!
You will see him in a few minutes."
"When they laid that majestic form before her,
helpless but alive — the smooth forehead colorless as
snow, save where the hair lay in thick curling masses
stiff with blood, the eyelids closed like sculptured
marble under the noble arches of the brow, and the
deep, broad chest laboriously heaving and sinking un
der the blood-stained jacket — she uttered a loud, wail
ing note, and fell on her knees by his side.
The eyes slowly opened, their lustrous black con
trasting vividly with the pallor of the face. " Man
na! — Madeline !" came in scarcely audible tones from
the lips, and the eyes closed again.
He was tenderly conveyed to his home, where, for
the present, we will leave him in the care of the sur
geon of the detachment and others, whose loving, anx
ious ministrations were far more effectual than all the
surgeon's skill.
The entry into Mikro-Maina wras a triumph in
miniature. Those of the villagers who had not al
ready sated their curiosity and admiration, flocked to
see the valiant warriors and their prisoners, as if the
latter were some new and strange variety of wild ani
mals, instead of men with whom some of them, at
least, had talked as familiarly as with any others of
their occasional visitors.
THE ORDEAL. 285
Among the crowd Major Paul recognized his neph
ew, whom he immediately asked to gi\re an account
of himself. Where had he been all this while?
Been { Where should he have been, but at the
Kutchuk inn, where he had been told to wait until
his uncle should call for him ?
"What the devil arc you litre for, then ?" retorted
the major, disgusted at a mere civilian's obeying or
ders with such military precision.
" The campaign being over, I took it for granted
that I was discharged from duty,*' replied the young
man, with provoking coolness. "But I say, Uncle
AVarrcn, the next time you go klcpht-lmnting, I shall
go with you, orders or no orders."
As one of Peschino's late prisoners, Griffin was of
course allowed to speak with him.
" Well, captain,'' he said, with affected exultation,
at the same time darting at him a significant glance,
"circumstances have somewhat changed since I last
had the pleasure of seeing you."
The brigand understood the glance, and replied
with simulated scorn and defiance. Seizing his op
portunity, Griffin said, in low, hurried tones, "Don't
betray me. I'll do my best to help you out of this."
Then aloud : " I suppose you are willing to reduce
our ransom a little, under the circumstances, eh, cap
tain ?"
" Oh, come !" interposed Major Paul ; " that's cow
ardly, Robert. Let the poor cuss alone, if you can't
treat him civilly.''
286 A DEMIGOD.
It was found impossible to save Peschino's legs;
so, in spite of liis opposition, they were both ampu
tated, and he was left under good care until he should
have sufficiently recovered to warrant his removal to
Kahimas, where he was to undergo his trial.
XXII.
A NIGHT OF FEVER.
FROM the moment when Madeline found herself in
the grasp of the brigand chief, and her lover lying
stunned a few feet away, up to the time when he
lay weak and only half conscious in his own house,
her mind was so taken up with his terrible peril and
her frantic desire to do something to extricate him,
that she scarcely thought of the barrier that had arisen
between him and herself. But, as by degrees her
hope became firm that he was not going to die, but
would sooner or later recover his full health and pow
er, her proud resentment returned. So, when after
a day and a night he awoke to a clear consciousness
of the faces and forms around him, she simply con
gratulated him on his escape and assured recovery,
and hurriedly left the room.
The sick man gazed at the closed door in con
sternation. " Why has she left me, manndka ?" he
asked, querulously. " Call her back again."
" You must not excite yourself, Hector,'7 replied
his mother, in whose face the insanity of despair had
A NIGHT OF FEVER. 287
given place to a calm, fixed happiness ; " you are very
weak yet."
" Then call her back. I shall get dangerously ex
cited if she doesn't come."
""Wait till you arc a little stronger, paidi mou.
The doctor says positively that you must be kept
perfectly quiet."
" But I say I cannot be quiet unless she comes. Go
and tell her that, manndka"
" Oh," cried Madame Vyr, wringing her hands,
"what shall I do? what will the doctor say? Will
you promise not to talk ?"
" I must talk a little, but I promise to say no more
than is absolutely necessary."
At that Madame Vyr left the room, still complain
ing to herself. In a few minutes Madeline re-entered.
'• You sent for me?" she said, commanding her voice
with a great effort, as she took the chair by his bed
side.
" Sent for you ! Of course I sent for you. My
life came back to me, but it seemed to leave me again
when you left me. Madeline, did you think I had
ceased to love you ?"
"You — said — you had done wrong, and were—
going to — do
" What is right ?"
"Why — to unsay all you have said — isn't it?"
" No, dearest one, that can never be. It is to say
it all again, from the lowest depths of my heart — and
much more. It is to tell you that I love you so well
that I am willing to sacrifice all other things to your
L9
288 A DEMIGOD.
best happiness. What liave I to offer yon in place
of native land, friends, everything that has made your
life a perpetual pleasure ? Only a splendid solitude
in exile, myself and my love. If these are enough
for your joyous youth, how can I be assured that they
will suffice for the long, long years of a lifetime ? It
is only a love longer than life, stronger than death,
that will be satish'ed with my offering. Such, my
Madeline, is my love for you, and such must be your
love for me if I accept the sacrifice that I have asked
too soon."
" Oh," she exclaimed, rising and standing before
him like a beautiful statue, "how little you know,
Hector Yyr ! with all your power, with all your wis
dom, how little you know ! You think that your
lion heart has lower depths than a woman's — that
your love is more enduring, more unselfish than hers !
You think I prize a life of shallow pleasure above
my very soul ! and doubt whether the palace you
offer me in the midst of this splendid solitude will
compensate me for the loss of society ! I say to you,
I do not want your palace ! Your love is enough
for me, and will be till I die !"
As he heard these words, uttered with convincing
fervency, a glow of rapture lighted up his pale feat
ures. " I believe you," he said. " Come to me, my
own love !"
After a while she raised her face, dewy and radi
ant, from his bosom. " There will be no more ex
periments now ?" she asked, with a lovely smile.
A NIGHT OF FEVER. 289
" Never again. And when I have shown you my
perfect faith for a year, will you forgive me?"
"I have already forgiven you. You did not know
—poor recluse, how could you ?"
"No, I did not know. I was blind, and you did
not open my eyes, Madeline ; you only drewr the veil
more closely over them — so artfully did you feign in
difference. Now shall I tell you why I insisted on
carrying you over the log-bridge ?"
" Ah, I called you a tyrant. And you were, Hec
tor. I tried to defy you ; but my will against yours
was no more than my feeble arm would be against
your strength. Yes, tell me — why did you insist on
going, and carrying me with you — to your— -fate?"
"It was indeed to my fate!" he said, his face an
swering the sudden paleness of her own. " "Why
could I not have looked into the future one short
hour ? I thought you as devoid of emotion as you
seemed. I thought I must lose you forever — but, be
fore the last tie was severed between us, I wanted to
fold you again to my breast as I did on that first day
—to feel your head again nestling upon my shoulder,
your arms clinging around my neck. Was it not an
artful stratagem ?"
" I must leave you now," Madeline said, a little
later, " or my visit will do you more harm than good."
" Yes ; you may go now."
Late in the afternoon there were alarming symp
toms of fever. Vyr's cheeks burned, and his eyes
290 A DEMIGOD.
shone with a lustre that was almost frightful. His
friends stood gazing in silent awe upon his counte
nance, transfigured by the fire of disease to a dazzling,
unearthly beauty. The doctor summoned Major Paul
to a private conference.
"We have a terrible night before us," he said. " If
he becomes delirious no living man can hold him.
Unless he is restrained by a power stronger than his
own, he wrill tear himself and everything about him
to pieces."
" What can be done ?" asked the major.
" The first thing is to get rid of the women."
" I am afraid that is out of the question — at least
so far as my daughter is concerned. She is under a
great obligation to him, like the rest of us, and noth
ing could persuade her to desert her post."
" Well, she seems to be a strong, sensible young
woman, and if she can stand it, she may be of some
help. Sometimes these women are cooler than we are."
" They generally are, in dealing with the sick, are
they not ?"
" I don't know how it would be in such a case as
this promises to be — it is going to take something
more than coolness, you will find."
" I suppose we shall have to — strap him down."
" If we can find straps strong enough," replied the
doctor.
"Poor Madeline!" thought the major.
As darkness approached, the patient rapidly grew
worse. His chest labored painfully, and his pulses
came like jets of hot quicksilver.
A NIGHT OF FEVER. 291
"I am afraid I am going mad," lie said to tlic
doctor. "A moment ago I thought you were Pes-
chino, and I was on the point of seizing you by
the throat. If this goes on, you will have to leave
me by myself, or I shall do mischief."
" You certainly will do mischief if we do" an
swered the doctor.
" You must chain me down, so I can't. Give me
some more water — I am on fire !"
During the ever- shortening intervals of reason
which followed, Yyr tried to quiet his poor frenzied
mother, and to soften the deeper grief and terror
which he saw in Madeline's calm white face ; while,
like Karl the Martyr, he helped to devise means of
controlling the fury of the coming delirium.
He struggles with all his might, but he cannot
move a muscle ; for a demon, with eyes like molten
metal and huge overshadowing wings, holds him in
a horrid embrace.
"Will you betray him?" says the demon in his
ear. It is the voice of Peschino.
"No."
" Then fall !"
He is in motion, slow at first, then faster, faster,
down, down, swifter and still more swift, until, like a
material body shattered by its own motion, the ties
of conscious existence snap asunder.
292 A DEMIGOD.
Again lie is in motion, inconceivably swift, up like
a ray of light darting through the darkness of space.
He looks upward. He is suspended, like a pendu
lum, by a thread of fire coming from a point far
away in the immeasurable void. It is the upward
swing of the pendulum. There seem to be hours of
diminishing speed, until he stops and is again in the
demon's embrace.
" Will you betray him ?"
"No."
" Then fall !"
Once more the accelerating motion of descent ends
in unconsciousness, to be followed by another awak
ening in the vast upward cycloid.
The slender thread of fire parts, and he falls down
through the illimitable darkness into an oblivion from
which it seems there can be no awakening.
But he awakes. He is lying chained upon a bed
of solid rock, that stretches in all directions around
him like a waveless ocean. Far, far above is a sky
of leaden cloud of one unvarying hue. As he gazes,
the distance above him shortens. The leaden sky is
sinking. Erelong it will envelop him in its chilling
folds. It comes nearer. Its surface takes on a more
substantial appearance. It is not cloud — it is solid
granite! In the distance, sky of rock and sea of
rock meet in a soft blue horizon. Still the solid
heavens sink. It will be hours, perhaps days, but
they will surely reach him at last, and crush him to
A NIGHT OF FEVER. 293
powder. And lie cannot move a link of the iron
chains that bind him.
Now the mistiness is all gone. He can see the lit
tle black and white specks and the glittering grains
of mica. He makes a mighty effort, and frees his
right arm. He reaches it up, and feels the rough,
hard, cold surface.
" Will you betray him ?" says the voice of Pes-
chino.
"No."
" Then die !"
Again he awakes. The rocky incubus has arisen,
and now smiles in a vast dome of blue crystal, with
the bright sun in its midst. The granite plain has
heaved into grassy hills and snow-capped mountains.
In a valley carpeted with flowery verdure are sport
ing troops of maidens, each of surpassing beauty.
The melody of their laughter falls upon his ear like
silvery chimes. Among them, most beautiful of all,
walks their queen. Her form and features are those
of Madeline Paul.
He tries to throw his arms towards her and to call
her name ; but he is bound immovably, and his voice
is smothered by a rude hand.
" Will you betray him ?"
"No."
" Then die !"
White-hot irons are laid upon his flesh. The in
tolerable anguish rouses his giant strength to a su-
294 A DEMIGOD.
prcme effort. He bursts liis bonds, leaps towards liis
love, clasps her in Iris arms, and sinks with her into
oblivion !
He is lying upon a bed of softest down. A cool
breeze plays upon his brow. The sunlight filters
through his closed eyelids. His chest rises and falls
with slow, gentle motion. A sense of delicious lan
guor weighs down his limbs. A voice that tingles
to his fingers' ends utters a cry of delight. His
heavy eyelids open. He sees Madeline Paul stand
ing over him with a cup and a teaspoon in her hands.
XXIII.
ON THE VERANDA.
IT was a fierce but short-lived invasion of disease.
Xot long could the enemy maintain his foothold
within a citadel so strongly built and hitherto unsha
ken by his assaults. The forces of life rallied at ev
ery point. Day by day the work of reinstatement
and reparation went on. In no other way, perhaps,
could the exceptional vitality of Hector Vyr have
asserted itself so strikingly as in his rapid rebound
from a fall which must inevitably have destroyed the
majority of men. The terrible blows he had received
upon his head would alone, in ordinary cases, have
entailed weeks, perhaps months of prostration, if not
instant death. That his skull was not fractured, was
ON THE VERANDA. 395
due, under Providence, to the unequalled texture and
elasticity of that helmet of nature ; that his cords
and sinews were not broken or permanently injured,
and his nervous system shattered, in the excruciating
ordeal which followed, was because they were of Nat
ure's best handiwork, compacted to endure the sever
est tests that mortality can sustain.
But he was not a patient convalescent. Hours of
torture he could have borne without a groan, had he
so chosen ; but day after day of enforced idleness,
mental and physical, was an experience so foreign to
his nature and life-long habit, that it is by no means
certain he could have borne it without murmuring
and chafing, even if he had tried, which he certainly
did not do. Every member of the household, mis
tress, guests, and servants alike, had to bear his vig
orous fault-finding and restless lamentations. Once
Madeline actually lost her temper, and boldly asked
if he were really the heroic Hector Vyr, or some
commonplace invalid who had assumed his shape.
At that, for the first time since his capture by the
brigands, he burst into a lit of laughter.
" Impertinent !" he exclaimed. " If the klephts had
not robbed me of my nails, I should scratch your
eyes out with them ! Make up your mind to endure
my unruly tongue till I get well. It amuses rne to
scold you, and helps me to pass the endless days.
Haven't I already borne enough, without being ex
pected to play the martyr now ( It is part of your
share of the pain to tolerate my ill -humor, and I
promise you I shall not spare you any more than the
296 A DEMIGOD.
rest. But you may scold, too," lie added, with anoth
er laugh ; "if you can make me really angry, all the
better — anything to spur on the leaden-footed hours."
" Forgive me," said Madeline, laughing, though the
quick, penitent tears started to her eyes. " You may
scold all you like, if it relieves you. It is little
enough for our share of the pain — though, if you
think it is all we have borne for you, you are most
egregiously mistaken, sir !"
" I said it was apart of your share, mademoiselle."
" Well, we ought not to complain, but rather to re
joice," she rejoined, " for a bad temper is said to be
one of the surest signs of returning health. But I
am afraid my impatient giant would make but an in
different hero in a dungeon."
" I am not a hero, Madeline ; I am a philosopher.
Many of the heroic things men are said to do are the
sheerest folly. My standard is what is on the whole
the greatest good and the least evil. If I were in a
dungeon — which God forbid ! — I should do my best
to alleviate the tedium of my imprisonment, what
ever my keepers might think of me. No doubt Pes-
chino and his minions thought me anything but a
hero when they were exercising their villanous inge
nuity upon me. But what were their opinions to
me ? — my aim was so to occupy my mind with action
as to leave the least possible scope for passive en
durance, and I succeeded. A man is much less con
scious of agony when he is struggling and yelling
with all his might, not to speak of the quicker ap
proach of exhaustion and unconsciousness. Ah!"
ON THE VERANDA. 397
with tender regret and solicitude, "I should not have
spoken of this."
F»r she had grown deathly pale, and was trembling
from head to foot.
"Yes," she replied, with firm lips. "Go on. I
know something of it, and I ought to know all. I
should be but a poor wife for you if I had not the
courage to hear what you had the fortitude to bear."
" But, my dearest, there is no need of your hear
ing it. It would be so much gratuitous suffering,
which would be altogether contrary to my theory.
The sympathy of my best beloved is sweet ; but I
have all I wish and more. If her sympathy is sweet
her pain is not. I referred to that ordeal only to
convince you that I made it less intolerable than you
might have imagined. Pain can be endured., Made
line. We cannot be fully conscious of more than one
great throe at a time. Happily for me, the klephts
did not understand that. It would have required at
least three distinct persons to realize what they did
to me at one and the same instant. It does not seem
to me, as I look back upon it, that I suffered so terri
bly, after all. A part of the time I was protected
by a merciful numbness in every nerve. I can scarce
ly decide which I remember the most distinctly — the
pain, my desperate struggles, or my ear-splitting
shrieks and yells."
lie accomplished his beneficent object. She lis
tened with rapt attention, and when he had finished,
heaved a long, deep sigh of relief.
After that he scolded less, and chatted more.
398 A DEMIGOD.
One morning lie sat in an easy-chair on the veran
da, breathing in great draughts of crisp air, while his
eyes roved over the deep green of the valleys and
the delicate pearl of the distant mountain-tops. A
luxurious gown lined with white fur enveloped his
large person, and a light fez concealed the bandage
which he still wore upon his head. A bright color
in his cheeks enriched their softened olive and the
bronze of his hair. Madeline sat near him, her grace
ful figure clad in a morning-robe of soft orange-col
ored stuff lined with white and relieved at the throat
by a cluster of blue and white anemones, which, add
ed to the effect of the morning air and her restored
happiness, rendered her eyes and complexion more
beautiful than ever. She had been reading to him
from a volume of English poetry, of which, in pres
ence of the sublimer poetry of nature, they had both
wearied. After a long silence she abruptly ex
claimed,
" How wonderfully fast you are gaining, Hector !
I can almost see the life-blood pouring into your
body as I look at you."
"Like wine into a bottle," he answered, laughing.
7 O O
" Don't you enjoy the process ? Health and pow
er will be all the more delightful to you now that
you know what it is to be without them."
" It is one of the most delicious sensations I have
ever felt," he replied, dreamily letting his eyes rest
on the blue water in the distance. " I am becoming
O
convinced that it is almost worth while to endure
evil for the sake of the exquisite pleasure of relief.
OX THE VERANDA. 299
and the greater enjoyment of positive good that fol
lows. The blacker the shadows, the brighter the
lights. How the rocky grandeur of those mountains
would be tamed if the dark mantles should be
stripped from their sides ! The Creator of beauty
does as well when he dips his brush into the dyes of
midnight as when his pencils are the beams of the
morning sun."
k> We shall some day understand the mystery of
evil more clearly still, I suppose," returned Madeline,
thoughtfully.
" To my mind evil is scarcely a mystery. It is
like the shapeless rocks in those mountains, over
which men must toil and sweat if they would change
them into forms of beauty and usefulness."
"But there is so much that never can be moulded
into good," protested Madeline.
" What is good ? It is not only the squared and
polished block of marble that is good and beautiful.
All mankind could not carve these rugged crags and
ledges into smoothness and regularity. But they arc
not evil : there is a beauty and a good, k<tlo)i tiaga-
thon, in their very shapelessness, which, in its place,
surpasses that of the most magnificent palaces of hu
man workmanship."
" Oh," said Madeline, " we can enjoy mere pictu-
resqueness and roughness, but we can take no pleas
ure in suffering, however picturesque. Or, if we do
feel a sort of horrible fascination in contemplating
it, we may be sure the sufferer feels nothing but
pain. Prometheus's vulture was not a good to
300 A DEMIGOD.
himself, whatever it might be to poets and paint
ers."
" On the contrary," said Vyr, smiling with pleas
ure at her zest and spirit, "it was the very incarna
tion of good to him. It devoured nothing in him
but what was corrupt and vile. It was to him wliat
the furnace seven times heated is to gold. Your al
lusion, Madeline, gives us a key to a part, at least, of
the ' mystery.' Prometheus is man ; the vulture is
what we call evil."
" And what shall we call that which the vulture
devours 2"
"Ah, that is the only real evil. And the only
remedy for it is the so-called evil, pain."
" It is that real evil that puzzles me," persisted
Madeline. "Why need it have existed in the first
place, to require so fearful a remedy ?"
" Who is man, that he should fathom the Infinite?"
returned Vyr, reverently. "If the beginning had
been perfection, there could have been no change but
to imperfection. Is it not better that imperfection
should be eternally employed in struggling towards
perfection ?"
" No," answered Madeline, with decision. " There
was no necessity for change. Perfection might have
been eternal."
" Brahma's endless sleep," said Vyr. And though
the world-old problem was as far as ever from solu
tion in her mind, Madeline made no reply.
Both remained for a while in thoughtful silence.
At length she said, with a sort of tender awe, " When
ON THE VERANDA. 301
you were speaking as you did, of pain and its benefi
cence, it almost seemed to me as if you were Prome
theus himself — especially when I thought of — Can
you accept that as good ?"
" Yes, Madeline — now that it is over, I can. It
has enlarged my vision. It was a revelation to me,
which will make the remainder of my existence deep
er, broader, higher." Then, in a lower tone, " When
I am a little stronger I shall visit Peschino. He is
said to be growing worse every day."
" Can you trust yourself to look upon the wretch's
face ? How shall you be able to restrain your hands
from tearing him limb from limb?"
" Not by the aid of such words as those from your
lips !" he replied, knitting his brows.
She shut her lips tightly together, as if to pre
vent a retraction of her question. He went on more
calmly:
" I should be restrained by the reflection that the
wreaking of my vengeance would do no good, but
very great harm. Even if he lives and escapes with
a light punishment, or is acquitted altogether, which
is not an impossibility — for he has wielded a great
political power — he can do no more mischief. As a
klepht chieftain he is forever disabled. All that is
left him now is to learn the use of artificial limbs
and try to live an honest life."
" And have you no desire for retribution ?" asked
Madeline, looking very much as if she would not re
fuse to be herself the minister of vengeance.
"Desire ! Every nerve in my body thrills at the
302 A DEMIGOD.
thought of clutching his throat in my fingers — of
feeling them cut through flesh, cords, and bones to
gether ! Ah, the rapture of that supreme moment !"
The paroxysm was appalling while it lasted. It
continued but a few seconds, however. Then the
lurid fire went out in his eyes, which now regarded
her in mild, sorrowful reproach. " You see what an
afrit you can evoke from the bottle into which you
' can see the life-blood pouring,' " he said.
" You surpass my ideal of nobleness and goodness,
Hector. When I think of what you endured at
Peschino's hands my whole soul rebels at the thought
of impunity for him. I know it is terribly wicked,
but I can't help wishing him to feel in his own vile
body some of the agony lie made you suffer. If the
opportunity should come, I am afraid I should try to
evoke the afrit where he could actually exert his
power."
" But he would not, Madeline — he would not" an
swered Vyr, again struggling with his passion. " One
nod from Reason, and he would shrink to a puff of
smoke and return to his prison in the bottle."
"And I suppose you would even — forgive — "
" No, not yet. I haven't risen so high as that. I
simply recognize the burning thirst for revenge I
felt just now to be a bestial appetite which must be
fought against and subdued, if I would realize my
highest aspirations. It belongs to a very low stage
in development, like the poison fangs of the serpent.
It is only in the breast of the savage, wild or ' civil
ized,' that it is fully developed. He alone can ex-
ON THE VERANDA. 303
perience more than a momentary joy in its gratifica
tion, or escape the remorse and self-scorn which in
variably follows in higher natures. No one would
suffer more keenly than you, my love, if what you
say is your present desire should be carried into exe
cution. I am — going to try — perhaps I may learn
to — forgive Peschino."
Madeline rose from her chair, knelt beside him,
and leaning her arms on his lap, gazed up into his
face in mute adoration. One of his maimed hands
stole around her neck.
" You must not give me more credit than is my
due," he said with a smile. "I have not forgiven
him yet. There is no very great merit in seeking
my own best good, is there ? If I prefer a lasting,
solid happiness to the savage satisfaction of a mo
ment, or to the bitter luxury of an enduring hatred,
what greater virtue can I lay claim to than the per
fection of selfish wisdom ?"
"Oh," she eagerly protested, "you have no right
to defame your own great, noble heart. It is blas
phemy. It is not selfish wisdom ; it is Christlike
goodness ! What more could an angel from heaven
do ? Your own happiness has nothing to do with it,
Hector Vyr — I almost believe you would do the
same if you knew it would result in your own misery
instead of your happiness !"
"No," he replied, shaking his head. "Not even
an angel from heaven would do that. But think of
a Being that would! Angels and men may well
worship Him !
20
304 A DEMIGOD.
XXIV.
HECTOR VYR VISITS PESCHINO.
PAIN is pain, whoever or whatever endures it.
That the sufferer deserves it does not make it the
more, but rather the less tolerable. In a world
where there is already so much misery, what heart,
human or divine, can rejoice in that which tends to
increase the sum ? When we know of some desper
ate criminal expiating his life-long cruelties, is the
sense of keen satisfaction we feel of the heavens
heavenly ? We may satisfy ourselves that it is our
natural love of justice which the God of Justice him
self has implanted in us, and which he shares with
us. But justice is only another name for right, and
right is never malevolence. If the pain of others is
to result in greater good to them or to the world, it
is Godlike to rejoice in the good and to accept the
pain for its sake ; but it is Satanic to rejoice in the
pain. When we feel our hearts bound with exulta
tion at the recital of richly deserved suffering, is it
on account of the future good or on account of the
present evil ? Do our pulses quicken with joy at the
thought of the possible reformation of a criminal or
of benefit to society? If so, we may well rejoice — •
we have gone a long way in our journey to the ce
lestial city.
HECTOR VYR VISITS PESC11IXO. 305
The poetry of justice was but feebly exemplified
in the fate of the li<(j>it(in Peschino, at least so far
as human vision extends. To say nothing of his
»/ O
long years of outlawry, his last act of fiendish cruel
ty should have been expiated by at least the utmost
pain and ignominy the law could inflict, or by a lin
gering, painful death at the severer hand of Nature.
On the contrary, however, whatever his mental ex
periences may have been, his physical suffering was
comparatively slight. The anaesthetic administered
to him at the time of the amputation of his limbs,
and the unskilful performance of that operation, left
him in a state of exhaustion from which he never
rallied. Day after day he lay in a semi -comatose
condition. Only at long intervals did he awake to
full consciousness, and only for a short time at each.
It was during one of these intervals that Hector Vyr
paid him his first visit. Then, indeed, for a few
fearful moments he tasted the retribution he so abun
dantly merited.
As his languid eyes fell upon the noble counte
nance he had seen so frightfully distorted, but now
so placid, and upon the kingly form he had caused
to writhe in agony, but now firm, erect, with every
appearance of health and power restored, he recoiled
with a look of indescribable horror, and gave utter
ance to a shriek so wild, so unearthly, that his vis
itor instinctively retreated from the room. Then a
deep but gentle voice came through the nearly closed
door:
u May I come in, Peschino ?"
30G A DEMIGOD.
" No ! no ! Go away ! The very sight of you
will destroy mo !"
But it was not long before Hector Vyr sat beside
his bed, listening to sobs which shook the narrow cot
and drew tears from his own pitying eyes.
"It is not as you think, my poor friend. I have
not come to torment you."
"You cannot hurt my body," came the answer,
brokenly, convulsively — " it is nearly gone already —
but you can torment my soul."
" Alas ! I have come to do your soul good."
" Good ! After what I did to you ! No, no, no !
it is not possible ! It was four hours I kept you
there— -four hours! You were very near death when
Heaven interposed and saved you."
"Heaven will save you too, Peschino."
"Save mef" Words cannot describe the amaze
ment with which these two words were uttered, nor
the laugh of wild scorn which followed.
" Yes. Do you think that Infinite Goodness is less
forgiving than Hector Vyr ?"
" Do you — forgive — me ?"
" "With all my heart and soul !" And Vyr's hands,
which still showed the marks of the awful cruelty
they had suffered, grasped the cold, trembling hands
of Peschino.
For a while the wretch did not speak, but lay pant
ing. Then he tore his hands away and with them
covered his face. "It cannot be. I cannot receive
so much from you. It is not just."
"If I can give, cannot you receive?"
HECTOR VYR VISITS PESCHINO. 3Q7
" You — Hector Yyr — really — forgive — Pescliino?"
" As I hope tliat Heaven will forgive me !"
" 0 Kyi'ie eh'ixoii ! 0 Christe ctiison /"
During the few days of life that remained to Pes-
chino, he was visited not only by Vyr, but by the
others whom he had wronged, and who, influenced
both by Yyr's example and by the piteous spectacle
of the fallen brigand's weakness and penitence, left
him at last with something very like sorrow, if not
sorrow itself.
Among his visitors was Tsaras, who besought him
to do him a last act of justice.
"Ah," said the dying klepht, "you played your
part well ; and I am glad you succeeded. There
would have been one victim the less. I really be
lieved that you led those people into my snare for a
share of the booty. Such things have been done for
me. Your cunning did them no harm, but might
have done them much good. Yes, Tsaras, I release
you from your oath, and I will moreover sign a writ
ing declaring that you were true and faithful to your
friends. They will believe even Peschino's dying
testimony."
Robert Griffin was the only one of our acquaint
ances to whom the brigand's death brought unmin-
gled joy. To him the sound of the falling clods was
like the sound of music, for they told of lips forever
mute. When he learned that the other prisoners
had met their fate at the guillotine, and was satisfied
that his dark secret had not been betrayed, his breath
308 A DEMIGOD.
came freely again, and lie gradually resumed Iris old
self-assurance. The constant fear and remorse he
had suffered had so engrossed his mind that, for the
time being, he had almost forgotten his passion for
Madeline, and as he had now become convinced of
its utter hopelessness, he had the wisdom to accept
his lot with resignation. It was not many days,
therefore, before he seized opportunities to join in
the counsels of the family, and he even went so far
as to address himself to Yyr with as little apparent
reserve or embarrassment as if he did not deserve
the execrations of the one and the direst vengeance
of the other. In the estimation of his uncle Warren
and of his aunt Eliza he of course stood far higher
O
than ever before. Madeline's want of enthusiastic
gratitude for the gallant service he was supposed to
have rendered her was a source of profound aston
ishment and grief to them. She received their re
proaches with patience and humility, and promised
to try to feel as she ought.
"Rebellions in Pandemonium!" exclaimed the
major, " what ails the girl ? You never failed to
feel as you ought before. Are your gratitude and
appreciation so entirely appropriated that you have
none left for this poor, brave boy? Can't you be
satisfied with throwing him over, without cheating
him out of everything — even the decent recognition
you would give a beggar who should do for you one-
tenth of what Robert has done?"
But she did not speak of the dark, torturing sus
picion that was in her heart ; and, although some
HECTOR YYR VISITS PESCIIINO. -J09
trace of her former cousinly manner towards Rob
ert occasionally appeared, they were never again for
an instant the congenial pair they had been.
With the now fully recovered victim of his treach
ery Griffin's relation was most peculiar. A not un
common effect of wrong-doing is an increasing aver
sion to the one injured. In this instance the effect
was the reverse. The meanest and most cowardly
villain is sometimes capable of feeling a sincere ad
miration for his opposite in character. One of the
oldest of sayings is that unlike natures attract one
another like the opposite poles of the magnet. When
this attraction exists between the good and the evil,
the noble and the ignoble, it shows itself on the one
side in a longing to reform and elevate the other,
and on the other side in a desire, if not to be purified
and ennobled, at least to be permitted to contemplate
and wonder at that which is as sublime as it is unat
tainable. A singular attraction certainly grew up
between these two, like that between the sun and
some frozen, barren planet which it tries to warm
into life.
Griffin's animosity to Hector Yyr had been due to
a stinging sense of his own immeasurable inferiority
as well as to the ill-balanced rivalry between them
for the love of Madeline Paul. It was far more
than satisfied with the unspeakably atrocious reprisal
lie had taken, and was now followed by the deepest
repentance and admiration, from which every parti
cle of envy was purged. To admiration was soon
added genuine friendship, and to friendship an affec-
810 A DEMIGOD.
tion almost like that of a child for its father. la
every way, save that of confession, he did all in his
power to atone for the past. This was*, of course,
very, very little ; still, if never-ceasing remorse is to
be accounted, it was something.
Yyr appeared to enjoy his friendship and, in a
certain way, to reciprocate it. Although he would
never invite him into his house, he did him many
other favors: he talked with him a great deal, and
frequently took long walks with him ; but even in
speech there was a barrier which he never suffered
him to pass : just as he was willing and anxious to
give him free entree to his garden and his outlying
estates, but closed against him every door of his house,
so he admitted him to every subject of conversation
except himself (as to Madeline, Griffin did not dream
of venturing the most distant allusion to her). When
ever Griffin approached the subject of their growing
intimacy or his own sentiments towards him, Yyr
became coldly silent, or immediately diverted his
thoughts to something else. It was evident that,
however much they might have to say to each other,
it was to be only upon things entirely disconnected
with the personality of either.
HOW THIS STORY CAME TO BE WRITTEN. 3H
XXV.
HOW THIS STORY CAME TO BE WRITTEN.
IN spite of Vyr's well-known aversion to every
sort and degree of public recognition, a few days af
ter Peschino's death a deputation arrived at Athens,
with a request that M. Hector Vyr should present
himself at Court, and receive official acknowledg
ment of the signal services he had lately, and on sev
eral former occasions, rendered in rescuing his Maj
esty's subjects and those of foreign powers from the
klephts.
The deputation was courteously received ; but the
request was positively declined with due gratitude
for the honors intended. The only return M. Vyr
desired was such as he had formerly received, with
permission to continue in the obscurity in which his
life had thus far been passed. To this end he hum
bly prayed that, so far as his Majesty's Government
could carry out his wish, nothing should be said or
done, either in public or private, which would in any
way tend to bring him into further notoriety. Most
especially he desired that nothing should be permitted
to appear in the public prints bearing directly or in
directly upon him, his acts, or his affairs. If his pe
tition should be granted, he should try to discharge
in the future, as he had done in the past, his duties
312 A DEMIGOD.
as a private citizen, as a private soldier of his Maj
esty's army with peculiar privileges and immunities,
and as a friend of law, order, and humanity. More
than this he trusted would not be required of him.
With this answer the agents of his Majesty's Gov
ernment were forced to be content.
Accompanying the deputation was Mr. Caleb Gold-
apple, Secretary of the American Legation, who had
special business to transact with his countryman, the
guest of M. Hector Vyr. This person, having been
invited to Major Paul's private drawing-room, effu
sively congratulated him on his well-nigh miraculous
escape from the brigands, commented on the remark
able qualities of his deliverer and host, and then pre
sented a letter and two cable despatches, all from
Josiah Jobling, of the firm of Jobling, Hotchkiss &
Paul, Boston, U. S.
Cable Despatch No. 1 was dated September 23d,
and stated substantially that all efforts to raise the
required ransom had failed, and furthermore that the
Western parties had backed out.
" Don't trouble yourselves, you peddling, miserly
skinflints !" ejaculated the major, dashing the paper
on the floor. " Thank fortune, I had somebody to
help me that was worth a thousand hundred million
such muck-worms as Jobling and Hotchkiss ! But
who in the devil are the Western parties ?"
Cable Despatch No. 2 was dated September 24th,
10 o'clock A.M., and announced, in substance, that the
firm had themselves decided to advance the required
sum.
HOW THIS STORY CAME TO BE W1UTTEX. 313
The major reckoned : " September 24th, 10 o'clock
A.M. The despatch announcing my rescue was sent
from Sparta at 2 o'clock P.M. on September 24th. Al
lowing for all delays, it must have reached Jobling at
9 o'clock A.M. at the very latest — a full hour before
he sent this! Ah-ha! ah-ha-a-a! They're a magnan
imous pair, are Josiah P. Jobling and Marshall W.
Hotchkiss! a noble, high-souled couple of saints!
an angelic brace of players on the golden harp !
They've decided to advance the whole fifty thousand
dollars, have they ? I suppose the Western parties
have backed in ! Unprecedented generosity ! unpar
alleled munificence ! Was there ever such an exhibi
tion of heroic self-sacrifice since the days of Damon
and Pythias! They ought to have fifty thousand
leather medals struck off and hung round their necks !
Confound the sneaking, hypocritical, Jesuitical hum
bugs ! Going to advance the whole fifty thousand
dollars, are they ? — fifty thousand fiddle-sticks ! fifty
thousand pop-guns, pepper-corns, rotten eggs, dead
cats, rattlesnakes ! Oh, Mr. Goldapple. you just wait
till I get to Boston — won't I reel it off to 'em ! won't
I give them a few quotations from Baxter's ' Saints'
Rest !' won't I make their heads hum, buzz, fizz,
sing, snap, sizzle!"
Mr. Goldapple thought it not at all improbable
that he would.
Having thus expended his scorn at, and exultation
over, Messrs. Jobling and Hotchkiss, safe and undcaf-
ened six thousand miles away, the major opened the
letter with a smile of amiable curiosity to see what
314 A DEMIGOD.
further display of phenomenal liberality it might
present.
"BOSTON, August 6, 18 — .
"My DEAR PAUL, — Times are decidedly looking
up with us." (Oh, they are, are they ?) " The Mose-
by sales netted us a cool fifteen thousand — I cabled
you only twelve, but there was a supplementary or
der." (By George, that's good news!) "What do
you say to that, old boy ?" (I say it only proves how
cussed mean you are.) "Whitlow & Co. have failed,
however" (What's this?), " which offsets nearly a third
of the Moseby profit." (All an infernal swindle, I'll
bet my head !) " The rascally beats paid only twen
ty-two per cent. Whitlow's wife outshone every
body with her new diamonds at the Toastman jam
boree only a week before the failure."
(Here the major stopped reading and effervesced,
until the Whitlow failure and the Toastman jambo
ree were no more to him than a trilling mercantile
transaction and an interesting item of society news.)
"But we shall make that all up," the letter went
on, " and ten times as much on top of it " (All right ;
then you will be ready to do something for me)
"within the next three months." (Ah!) "We have
got some responsible Western parties " (Yes, I see)
" in tow, who will probably want fifty thousand dol
lars' worth at the very least." (That's just like Job-
ling!) "Will let you know by cable the instant
the contract is signed.
" Well, old fellow, I hope you are enjoying your
selves among the marble temples and broken-armed
HOW THIS STORY CAME TO BE WRITTEN. 315
'stone gals.": (Oh yes! we've enjoyed ourselves!)
"Don't let your charming daughter" (Confound his
impudence !) " fall in love with any of those beggarly
Greeks, with their slim waists, black eyes, and straight
noses." (Don't you fret, Jobling.) " If she does, give
them some grape and canister from that twenty-four
inch columbiad you call your mouth." (Ha, ha ! Job-
ling isn't such a bad fellow after all, sometimes.)
" Griffin will look out for those chaps, however."
(Poor Bob !) " By-the-bye, do you suppose he could
be persuaded to part with some of his Eastern Pa
cific if we should get into a particularly tight place ?
Sound him on that.
"One thing more: don't think of coming home
for another solid year. Anybody that has worked
as hard as you have for the last twenty-five years"
(Oh, slop !), " including your three years of noble
self-sacrifice in the war" (What disgusting drivel!),
" ought to have a rest of three years at the very
least." (Well, I think I ought.) " We should all like
to see you, of course " (Guess not, if he knew what
I've got to say!); "but business is all right, and —
well, you know all about that, Paul." (li'm, h'm !)
" I have sent you papers by every steamer ; hope you
have received them all right. Remember us both to
Miss Wellington and Miss Madeline. I suppose she
will be Mrs. Griffin when we see her next." (Not
much, she won't !) " Let us hear from you as often
as you can about your travels — don't waste any time
writing business. Faithfully you re,
" JOSIAII P. JOBLING."
316 A DEMIGOD.
"Hang me if I believe I shall ever go back again !"
said Major Paul, throwing the letter down to keep
company with the cablegrams on the floor. " They
don't want me, and I swear I don't want to see any
of their faces again as long as I live ! They would
have let me and all my family be murdered in cold
blood rather than part with their filthy dollars ! If
there's ever another war, Uncle Sam may find his
majors where he can !"
" Don't be ungrateful to Uncle Sam," said the sec
retary, who had been busy arranging a file of docu
ments. " If the brigands had dared to harm you,
there would have been terrible reprisals taken. The
world knows well that free and innocent American
citizens are not to be slaughtered with impunity."
" Reprisals !" echoed the major, growing suddenly
apoplectic from his inability to express himself as
the occasion demanded ; " that would be eminently
satisfactory ! A man would be unreasonable indeed
that should complain of that !"
" But that isn't all," rejoined Mr. Goldapple, look
ing a little foolish : " you probably will never know
the full extent of the efforts which were made in
your behalf. The matter was thoroughly canvassed
in the House ; the lobbies were full of it. But, you
see, there were peculiar difficulties — the spectacle of
a nation of nearly sixty millions of people submit
ting to be robbed by a corporal's guard of Greek
bandits would have been a little — well, humiliating,
to say the least. Still, for all that, it was out of the
question to let you die, without doing everything
HOW THIS STORY CAME TO BE WRITTEN. 317
that was possible to save you. If worst had came to
worst, there is not the slightest doubt that the ran
som would have been raised, either by private sub
scription or by public appropriation."
" Worst had pretty nearly come to worst," sug
gested the major.
" Oil no ; there was plenty of time. There was
talk of sending a military force to rescue you ; but
that, you know, was the business of the Greek Gov
ernment. They were importuned enough on that
subject, I assure you — witness this pile of letters and
documents I've brought for you to examine. You
know what the result was : that detachment sent to
your relief was the response to your country's de
mand, Major Paul. To be sure, the movement was
not quite as prompt as it might have been ; but still
it would have been in time, even if it had not been
so happily anticipated. I don't think you have any
thing to complain of, sir," concluded the secretary,
with dignity.
" Well, one thing is sure, at any rate," said the ma
jor, " we are all right now"
" And you would have been, in any event."
"I'm not sure of that. I suppose those villains
would have cut all our throats before they would
have given us up."
" If they had chosen to do that, no power on earth
could have prevented them."
"No; you're right, Mr. Goldapple, and for that
very reason a ransom would have been better for us
than an attempt at rescue. Still, I fully appreciate
318 A DEMIGOD.
the objections, and I will not be ungrateful. I pre
sume everything was done for us that could be rea
sonably expected. I shall always be a true, loyal
American wherever I live ; but I think it very pos
sible I shall decide not to return to Boston, consider
ing all the circumstances. Athens is not such a bad
place for a residence ; and now that my daughter—
"What would you think of settling down for life in
Athens, Mr. Goldapple ?"
" Oh, If Well, my circumstances are very differ
ent from yours, you know. I've seen pretty nearly
all Europe, and the United States is good enough for
me."
"The more I think of it," the major went on,
ignoring the secretary's reply to his question, " the
more the idea pleases me. Since my wife's death,
five years ago, there's nobody in particular that I
care for at home. I don't suppose my daughter will
ever return— that is, to stay. She's more to me, sir,
than all the rest of the world put together. I've
got capital enough in that firm to keep me going, if
J. and H. give me fair play, and I guess there'll be no
trouble about that. You've lived in Athens a good
while, Mr. Goldapple ; don't you think there's some
pretty fair people there, on the whole 2"
" Oh yes, Major Paul, of course there are. Society
is rather heterogeneous, however, in Athens. It may
be divided pretty distinctly into three classes. In
the first place, there are the Autochthones, or true
Athenians. You can't get in among them, for they
despise everything that is foreign ; they call all for-
HOW THIS STORY CAME TO BE WRITTEN. 319
cigners Ileterochthones, just as the old Hellenes used
to call everybody else Barbarians. They swindle and
cheat—"
" Who— the Ileterogones 2"
"No ; the A utochthones. They cheat and swindle
the poor Ileterochthones without the least compunc
tion — that is, some of them do ; there are honorable
exceptions, of course — most of the magistrates, pro
fessors, and merchants, for instance, will compare fa
vorably with those of any other civilized country."
" Well," said the major, " we have the Automatons
and the Heteroclites — who are the third class?"
" The Phandriotes, or Byzantine Greeks. They
are generally wealthy and cultivated, have travelled
a good deal and got their minds expanded, you know.
The others are jealous of them — "
" The Heterodoxies 2"
" No ; the Autochthones — so the Phandriotes are
more apt to be friendly with foreigners — "
" Or Ileteropods 2"
"Ileterochthones. Their ladies are handsome, ac
complished, and are everlastingly chatting — "
" The Pharaohs' 2"
"The P ha n <ir ivies'. You will enjoy their salons,
Major Paul. Yes — decidedly your place is among
the Phandriofat"
" All right," answered the major. " Henceforth I
am a PhandrioU"
" No, you cannot be that, for you are not a Greek
by descent ; but as a respectable, well-to-do Ileteroch-
thon you can fraternize with the Phandriotes. You
21
820 A DEMIGOD.
will not forget, however, tliat you are an American,
I hope."
"Never! I am an American now and forever,
one and inseparable. Halloo ! who is this ?"
Happening to glance through the window, Major
Paul had seen a consequential-looking individual in
European dress swaggering up the path, accompanied
by one of the bridge guards.
" Good heavens !" exclaimed Mr. Goldapple, feel
ing; the blood rush into his cheeks, "has that fellow
o t
got iii ? Well, if that isn't the most monumental au
dacity I ever saw, even in Yankee-land ! He's the
correspondent of the New York Gimlet. He tried
to wedge himself in with my party, but we gave him
what he would call the ' Grand Bounce.' He want
ed to interview your eccentric champion. Fancy
it!"
Major Paul was so delighted that he could not
contain himself. " Let him try it !" he cried, danc
ing round the room, "let him try it! If he doesn't
get shot up so high that he'll never come down again
I'll eat a year's file of his Gimlets /"
The stranger ascended the steps with professional
self-possession, and seated himself on the veranda as
if it belonged to a New York politician's villa on the
Hudson. As soon as the royal deputation had been
dismissed he was ushered into Yyr's "office."
Unabashed by the cool stare of inquiry with which
he was received, he began, with his professional bow,
" M. Hector Yyr, I presume."
"Yes."
HOW THIS STORY CAME TO BE WRITTEN. 321
" Allow me to introduce myself : J. P. Thumb, of
New York."
" What is your business with me ?"
" I have been told, sir, that you are a man who
hates all kinds of beating round the bush; that there
is no use in boring you with ceremonious prelimi
naries, nor attempting with you any of the delicate
finesse which gentlemen of my profession feel obliged
to resort to in approaching other distinguished characr
ters. I have been told, in short, that you would see
through everything of that sort in a twinkling, and
would be simply disgusted with it, if not mortally
offended. As that is precisely my own character, I
will approach you in a manly, straightforward way,
such as I think must appeal to your generous sympa
thies, and tell you at once, in as few words as possi
ble, my object in calling upon you."
" Go on," said Vyr, with an ominous glance tow
ards the door, then at the window.
"• In spite of your reputed efforts to hide your
dazzling light under a bushel, sir, your fame has
reached even as far as America. However much
you may deplore this " — with an ingratiating smile —
" it is past remedy now. Your recent act of unpar
alleled heroism in rescuing my unfortunate compa
triot and his family from the brigands has—
" Your business!" thundered Vyr. His voice
shook the room. The correspondent felt a peculiar
sense of suffocation, as if a cannon had been dis
charged behind his buck.
322 A DEMIGOD.
"I — I beg your pardon — sir. I was not aware
that— that— "
" YOUR BUSINESS !"
" Cer — certainly — certainly," stammered Mr.
Thumb, breathlessly, sidling towards the door. " I
am the representative of the New York Gimlet, sir.
I — I — the people have learned something of you al
ready — and they wish to know — they have a right
to know more of the wonderful man who — "
Vyr took one long stride, seized the luckless vic
tim of his own rashness by the collar with one
mighty hand, opened the window with the other, and
gently set him outside, as if he had been a bag of
straw. " Stathas," he said to the guard, " take this
person away ; and henceforth allow no one to cross
the bridge until I have first been informed who he
is and what he wishes."
Of course Major Paul and the secretary had been
on the lookout, and the air of general collapse with
which the discomfited interviewer picked his way
down the slope, hard pressed by the guard, afforded
them much amusement.
" He will make his report all the same," remarked
the major, when they had laughed their fill.
" Of course he will. I fancy I can already see the
startling head-lines and double-leaded columns in the
Gimlet. His eye took in instantaneously everything
there was in the room, every article of clothing Mr.
Yyr had on ; and his walk from the ravine to the
house has given him material for a solid column, at
the least."
HOW THIS STOIIY CAME TO BE WRITTEN". 333
" He won't write so mucli about his walk back"
laughed Major Paul.
" Oh yes. His alchemy will find good matter
even in that. These magnanimous gentlemen never
descend to petty personal resentments. Your cham
pion is doomed to be famous now in spite of himself.
Within a month there will be an army of sight-seers
besieging his castle."
"And I and my family will be the unhappy
cause," moaned the major. " He'll wish he had let
us all perish before he opened the floodgates upon
himself in this way — blister the whole race of pry
ing, gossiping, goggle-eyed blabbers ! "What can be
done? They'll get small satisfaction — that's one
comfort. He will intrench himself, pull in his log-
bridge, and woe to the foolhardy gabbler that offers
to find another for himself !"
"Well," responded the secretary, "the mischief's
done, and it can't be helped. M. Hector Vyr must
accept glory, whether he will or no."
" Mr. Goldapple !" exploded the major, as if a new
and brilliant idea had popped into his head.
" Well, what now ?"
" The mischief is already done, as you say."
" Yes ; there's no doubt of that."
" And there's no possible help for it."
"Not the slightest. You can't stop their tongues
from wagging now, any more than you can prevent
the winds from blowing."
" Then we must countervail them."
" How ? What do you mean V
824 A DEMIGOD.
"Why, if Hector Vyr must be talked about and
written about, it had better be the truth than all sorts
of vile, twisted, garbled, scurrilous, preposterous, idi
otic lies, hadn't it ?"
" I don't imagine there will be any intentional in
justice done him," replied Mr. Goldapple, somewhat
overcome by the shower of adjectives.
" I don't know. The reception that pitiful, scrub
by interviewer got wasn't exactly what you might
call affable."
" Not exactly," laughed the secretary.
" And I don't believe interviewers are proof against
resentments any more than other men. I tell you
what, Mr. Goldapple, you write his story."
"/?" starting back.
"Yes. You can do him justice — at least you tell
the truth. I'll talk with him about it, and I know
he will give his consent. One of the cardinal points
of his philosophy is to accept the less of two evils
when one is inevitable."
Mr. Goldapple put his finger to his forehead and
thought a long time.
"I suppose you could give me all the necessary
data ?" he asked, at length.
" Of course, of course."
" Well, we'll see."
And that is how this story came to be written.
AU REVOIR. 335
XXVI.
AU EEVOIK.
THE first unmistakable smile that visited the face
of Madame Yyr in these days was welcomed with
all the enthusiasm that greeted the first doubtful
smile of her infancy in that noble old mansion on
the Thames. It was a beautiful smile, rather with
the eyes than with the lips. She gave it one morn
ing at breakfast, when she was assured that, though
Madeline Paul was soon to depart with her friends,
it was only for a time. She had conceived a great
fondness for the girl, whose splendid vigor and beau
ty brought back so vividly her own youth ; and this
sentiment stirring in the depths of her heart, was like
a stream of pure, fresh water flowing into a stagnant
pool. It is not strange, therefore, that, when she
clearly understood the happiness in store for her, her
sad, worn face was illuminated with a smile. It was
by no means the first happy change that had been
observed in her since the advent of the Americans.
The general enlivening eifect of their visit, the stimu
lating sense of responsibility she felt as their hostess,
and, later and far more than all these, her joy at her
son's escape, and at his rapid restoration to health,
had wrought a great alteration both in her bodily
and in her mental condition. Her step became firm,
her large, matronly figure more erect, a little color
826 A DEMIGOD.
came into her cheek, and the melancholy, far-away
look almost entirely forsook her eyes. But, best of
all, she began to express herself freely, and it soon
became evident that the poor, distraught creature
whose white face and drooping form had haunted
the house — moving slowly and silently from room
to room, like a restless spirit — had been a woman of
superior intelligence, cultivation, and even vivacity.
" Ah," said her overjoyed son to his visitors, " now
you begin to see what my mother was — and is /"
At last the day which the Americans had appointed
for the termination of their visit arrived. Without
protesting against their departure, Yyr quietly, but
with deep sincerity, described the happiness he had
enjoyed in their society, and the benefit he had de
rived from the interruption of his comparative lone
liness and from contact with a little delegation from
the civilized world. The stirring scenes in which
they had all participated had woven ties between
them which could never be broken, even if it were
not for the infinitely stronger tie that now bound
them together.
The evening before their separation the lovers
spent in such a blending of heart with heart and
soul with soul as only such lovers can enjoy. It was
then that Hector Vyr became, if possible, still more
thoroughly convinced of the injustice he had done
Madeline in harboring the thought that home and
friends and the numberless delights of fashionable
society could weigh in the balance with life and love
with him, even in his mountain solitude.
AU REVOIR. 327
At Mikro-Maina, Tsaras, armed with his certificate
of moral character siyned by the brigand chief and
duly attested, presented himself to Major Paul, with
the request that he he reinstated and allowed to fin
ish the undertaking for which he had been employed.
His request was readily granted.
Hector Yyr accompanied his guests as far as Spar
ta. "When Robert Griffin came forward to say fare
well in his turn, he took Yyr apart from the rest,
and safd, in a faltering tone, with cheeks flushed and
eyes bent downward,
" Mr. Yyr, your treatment of me has been most
generous, most noble. But you have never — not
withstanding the respect, the — the affection you have
compelled me to feel for you — you have never given
me a hint — in words, I mean — of your real opinion
of me, or of your real feeling towards me."
Although he did not dare to raise his eyes, he felt
the power of the look that was fixed upon him.
" Tell me, I implore you," he burst forth, " is there
any reason — do you know anything which prevents
you from — from —
Before he could find words to finish his question,
the answer came — turning his blood to ice :
"I know all!"
828 A DEMIGOD.
XXVII.
A COUKT RECEPTION.
"HAVE you been presented to their Majesties?"
asked the secretary of the American Legation, ad
dressing a newly arrived compatriot one morm'ng.
"No."
"Would you like to be?"
"I should like it very much."
"Yery well. There is to be a grand ball at the
palace to-morrow night. I will introduce you to the
consul, who will introduce you to the Grand Mare-
ckal, and you will receive an invitation."
"But — what shall I wear?" asked the "Globe
trotting American."
" Oh, there will be no difficulty on that score. Or
dinary evening-dress will do."
At nine o'clock the next evening the secretary
and his new acquaintance arrived at the palace, the
exterior of which, though of Pentelican marble, was
far from imposing. They followed a motley crowd
up a narrow staircase, arid presently found them
selves in a large, lofty hall, whose splendor was in
startling contrast with its humble approaches. The
floor was beautifully inlaid ; an elaborate frieze ran
along the middle of the walls ; above this wrere par
allelograms of Pompeian painting; the ceiling was
A COURT RECEPTION. 309
cut into panels, each profusely decorated with red and
old gold ; while huge chandeliers and candelabra of
bronze threw a subdued light over all. High Ionic
door-ways of marble opened into two other halls sim
ilarly decorated, which to one viewing the scene from
a central point gave an effect of almost unlimited
extent.
A multitude of guests in every variety of gay,
splendid, and commonplace costumes surged from
hall to "hall, harmonizing admirably with the pictur
esque decoration of the walls and ceiling: palikars
in crimson and gold, officers in uniform, ministers
and consuls in court dress, English, French, and Amer
ican ladies in elegant Parisian toilets, modest gentle
men in expansive shirt-fronts and swallow-tails, and
islanders in still plainer attire.
Presently a general buzz of excitement arose every
where, a passage was opened through the crowd, and
their Majesties, with the dignitaries of the court, ad
vanced into the hall. The king, tall, slender, light-
haired, was royally handsome in his citizen's dress
and manifold decorations. The queen was radiant
with smiles, satin, and diamonds. On being presented
the American tourist was favored with the following
extended conversation :
"How long have you been in Greece?" inquired
the king.
" Only three days, your Majesty."
" How do you like Athens ?"
" Very much indeed. It is to me, next to my own,
the most interesting city in the world."
330 A DEMIGOD.
The tourist then fell back, and was at once accosted
by an old palikur, who was evidently impressed with
the attention he had received.
" We are very fond of you Americans," said the
palikar. "We have a fellow-feeling with you. Like
us, you were oppressed by a tyrannous despotism ; like
us, you arose in your might and threw off the yoke."
"Yes," assented the American, cordially ; "there
is a brotherhood between all lovers of freedom the
world over."
" We are grateful to you, too," rejoined the pali
kar. " In our war of independence you sympathized
with us, and many a ship-load of provisions came to
us from your ports. In our troubles with our brig
ands since then you have not censured us with the
cruel injustice of other nations ; you have not insulted
us with arbitrary dictation ; you have not given us
self-contradictory directions as to what to do with the
rascals, as England, France, and other European pow
ers have done ; you have appreciated our efforts.
Sir, the American and the Greek are brothers !"
The tourist gratefully acknowledged the compli
mentary speech, and turned away to join his friend
the secretary. As the two were sauntering through
the halls, the stranger's attention was attracted by two
ladies who appeared to be holding a sort of minor
reception in the centre of an admiring circle. One
was a stately matron with a handsome, intellectual
face, crowned by wavy masses of white hair; the
other was in the very bloom of magnificent woman
hood.
A COURT RECEPTION. 331
" Who are they ?" asked the tourist, his face glow
ing with admiration.
k' Ah, you are a stranger. But surely you must
have heard of the famous Yyr family ?"
" Vere ? Are they any connections of the ' Lady
Clare?'"
" Neither by name nor by nature. It is V-y-r, not
Y-e-r-e, and if reports be true, the ' country heart ' is
to both these ladies ' worth a hundred coats of arms.'
It is said they leave their hermitage in the mount
ains only once a year, and then only from a sense of
duty."
" Indeed, this is very interesting. Whose is the
'country heart?' Some simple 'Young Laurence?'
some ' foolish yeoman ?' ':
" Well, upon my word ! where have you lived,
man ? Is it possible you have never heard of the
lion of Greece, who might be the lion of the world
if he chose, but who shuts himself up in an inaccessi
ble mountain fastness, and stubbornly refuses to be
coaxed from his solitude, or to allow any one to in
trude upon it? A squad of Bavarian guards regu
larly patrol the approaches to his castle, and no one
can pass them without a written permit, signed by the
Minister and countersigned by the old ogre himself."
"Seems to me I do remember something of the
sort," replied the tourist — "a newspaper sensation
three or four years ago. But it subsided very quick
ly, and I've heard nothing since. I supposed, there
fore, that it must have been one of the Sea-serpent
332 A DEMIGOD.
"Nothing of the kind," said the secretary, em
phatically.
" Then there really is such a marvel as they told
about?"
" Certainly."
" Why don't they keep up the excitement, then ?"
" They do in a certain way. There's no end of
table and cafe, gossip ; but the subject is tabooed in
the Greek papers. The editors know that Hector
Yyr doesn't want to be talked about, and there is a
general sense of gratitude and obligation among the
people that they know better than to violate. You
remember, the newspaper accounts told of his won
derful exploits — how he attacked whole gangs of
brigands single-handed, and drove them out of their
strongholds ?"
" Yes, I remember. He rescued an American fam
ily, about. whom there was a great fuss made."
" Ah — we'll come to that presently."
" But, of course, nobody believed such stories."
"Nevertheless, they were true in the main. I
happen to know all about it. The Greeks believe
them, at any rate, and they would demolish a paper
that ventured to make the most distant allusion to
their hero without his consent."
" Why don't other papers keep up the excite
ment — English, French, and American papers ? The
Greeks would find it a difficult matter to demolish
the New York Herald or the London Times!"
" Don't you know, my friend, no man is lionized
very much in these days without his own conniv-
A COURT RECEPTION. 333
ancc? The Angel Gabriel himself would have to
keep his trumpet blowing, submit to interviews and
band serenades — submit ? he'd have to solicit them !
— attend dinners, and make speeches, or he would
Boon find himself dropping into obscurity."
"But how do you knoiv" said the tourist, obsti
nately, " that it isn't all a fable, a revival of ancient
mythology ? I should think these Greeks would be
up to that sort of thing."
" How do I know ? Didn't I tell you I knew all
about it? Bless your soul, I've seen Hector Vyr
himself, and talked with him !"
" Is it possible !" exclaimed the tourist. " Do tell
me all about it."
"A\rait till we are cosily seated with our cigars in
my library."
" Let's go there now."
"No ; we've a great deal to see here first. I want
to present you to Madame Vyr, his mother, and Ma
dame Vyr, his wife, when we get a chance. The wife
is a countrywoman of ours, a daughter of that very
family he rescued from the brigands ; so of course
she will be delighted to see you. That soldierly-
looking old gentleman in the swallow-tail is her fa
ther, Major Warren Paul, late of the firm of Job-
ling, Hotchkiss & Paul. He's what you would call
a rabid Philhellene — he's more than that, he's as good
a Greek as any old palikar of them all."
Seizing their opportunity, the two Americans
wedged themselves through the crowd, and received
as cordial a welcome as the secretary had promised.
334 A DEMIGOD.
Madeline Lad no end of questions to ask in regard to
her beloved America, and particularly of her native
city, which was also her new acquaintance's home.
Meanwhile the crowd, seeing that it was to be a
purely national love-feast, had gradually withdrawn,
and \vere now furtively observing their favorites
from a respectful distance.
" Does Mr. Yyr never come to Athens?" asked the
tourist, interviewing Madeline in his turn.
" Only when it is absolutely necessary, which is
very seldom," answered Madeline. " Then he always
comes incognito, and goes away as soon as possible."
" Do you spend much time here yourself, madam?"
" No, only a week or two."
" She wouldn't do that if she could prevent it,"
put in the elder Madame Yyr, laughing.
" My husband thinks I must come here at regular
intervals to prevent my growing rusty," explained
the younger. " Our home is in a very retired situa
tion : we rarely see any one there besides each other
and our servants."
" Your friends have difficulty in finding you 2"
asked the tourist, with affected innocence.
" Yes," answered Madeline, frankly ; " very great
difficulty."
Major Paul now advanced, to whom the new
comer was duly introduced.
" From Boston, eh ?" said the major, shaking his
hand warmly. " Glad to see you, sir — tremendously
glad to see you. And how are matters at the new
Athens 2"
A COURT RECEPTION. 335
" About as they are at the old Athens, if we may
judge by this gorgeous display of wealth and general
prosperity,'' answered the tourist, looking around the
halls.
" Yes, about the same, I suppose. Plenty of gold
and diamonds outside and plenty of nothing inside.
If these people would spend less in glitter and more
in paying their debts and building up a solid foun
dation of prosperity, they would be vastly happier
and more respected, I keep telling 'em. But, wis
dom of Socrates! what do they care for what any
body says? As long as they can dazzle your eyes,
what difference does it make whether they have any
thing to eat or not ? Go out of this marble palace,
and take a walk through the streets : what will you
see, eh? And how is it in Boston, sir? Better look
ing houses and shops, of course — but how large a per
cent, of the people do you suppose eat three square
meals a day ? It's just the same all over the coun
try. "With natural resources enough to support a
population of six hundred millions in comfort and
prosperity, it doesn't half support sixty millions —
and all because of your cursed extravagance, sir!
Greece is, on a small scale, what America is on a big
scale, sir !"
Before the tourist could find words to reply, Mad
eline said, " You must not mind papa's scolding, lie
docs it only for his own amusement. If there is any
country he loves and admires more than Greece, it is
his own America."
"And if there's a country," added the secretary,
22
336 A DEMIGOD.
"ho admires and loves more than America, it is his
own Greece."
" Hold there !" said the major ; " America first, al
ways, and forever ! But it is always so — I never say
a true and honest word but some one must imme
diately spoil its whole effect by calling it only my
scolding !
"But all this isn't what I came to say. I rather
think I have some news that will set you ladies to
scolding, too — especially you" addressing his daugh
ter.
" "What is it, pray ?"
" The boat went this afternoon."
" This afternoon !" echoed Madeline, in dismay.
"Why, it wasn't to go until to-morrow."
"That is very true. All the same, it has gone."
"But it had no right to go!" cried Madeline, in
dignantly.
" True again, my daughter. Still, I can't see that
that alters the case. It went as a special accommo
dation to his Serene Magnificence — or whatever it
is — Serapis Effendi, who had important business at
Sparta, admitting of no delay."
Instead of looking in tender sympathy upon, poor
Madeline's grewsome countenance, her father only
laughed at it.
" Never mind, my dear," said Madame Yyr mere,
"we ought to have become sufficiently accustomed
to such things by this time. This is neither London
nor Boston, you know7. It only involves three more
A COUKT RECEPTION. 337
days of gnyety in Athens. I think we can reconcile
ourselves to that if we try.''
"Madeline made no further exhibition of indigna
tion or of disappointment until the secretary and his
friend had withdrawn, when she indulged in sundry
expressions vividly reminding her hearers of her re
lationship to the doughty major.
"So, so," said the last-named gentleman; "if you
iind it so hard to submit to three days' enforced ex
ile from your hermitage in the wilderness, what pos
sible hope have we that you will ever make up your
mind to the visit to America we have been talking
about so long?"
AVithout noticing her father's question, Madeline
only said, while her face suddenly brightened up,
'• I'll tell you what we will do, manmika — we will
ask Mr. Goldapple to take us to Gytheion in his
yacht; and Tuesday we shall be at home! — think of
it, mamuika — IIOMK ! !"
It was thus — her hands clasped rapturously to
gether, her eyes brighter than the diamonds upon
her white throat — that she spoke of that wildest of
solitudes in the Taygetus Mountains !
THE END.
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Monastery ; The Abbot ; Kenihvorth ; The Pirate ; The Fortunes
of Nigel ; Peveril of the Peak ; Quentin Durward ; St. Ronan's
Well; Redgauntlet; The Betrothed; The Talisman; Woodstock;
Chronicles of the Canongate, The Highland Widow, &c. ; The
Fair Maid of Perth ; Anne of Geierstein ; Count Robert of Paris ;
Castle Dangerous ; The Surgeon's Daughter ; Glossary.
WOOLSON'S (C. F.) Anne. Illustrated by Reinhart 16mo, Cloth 1 25
For the Major. Illustrated 16mo, Cloth 1 00
TATES'S (Edmund) Dr. Wainwright's Patient Svo, Paper 30
Kissing the Rod Svo, Paper 40
Land at Last 8vo, Paper 40
Wrrcked in Port Svo, Paper 35